Good Samaritans' Labor Day BBQ Returns to Blue Ridge City Park Today

The Good Samaritans of Fannin County are back at Blue Ridge City Park today serving barbecue plates for a tradition that has raised money for neighbors in need since 1981. The Labor Day BBQ runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., or until the food runs out, at the park on East Main Street in downtown Blue Ridge.

Plates come with a choice of pulled pork or chicken, plus beans, slaw, dessert and a bottled water. Diners can eat at the park or pull through the drive-thru line, which has made the event a fast stop for people picking up lunch on their way to the lake or the trailhead over the holiday weekend.

Every dollar spent on a plate goes toward the Good Samaritans' work helping Fannin County residents cover emergencies, from a utility bill to a tank of gas to groceries in a lean month. The nonprofit works through 16 affiliated churches across the county to get that help to the people who need it.

The barbecue is the organization's biggest fundraiser of the year, but it isn't the only one. The Good Samaritans also host a Fifth Sunday Brunch several times a year and a community Thanksgiving dinner each fall, both aimed at the same goal: making sure no one in Fannin County goes without.

Parking around the park fills up quickly on Labor Day, so arriving early in the window gives the best shot at a shorter line, both for walk-up diners and for cars queued for the drive-thru. Organizers have said in past years that popular options can sell out before the 5 p.m. cutoff, so a late-afternoon visit is not guaranteed.

The event has become enough of a fixture that it shows up on regional Labor Day weekend guides alongside rafting trips on the Ocoee, tubing on the Toccoa and the last weekend of Blue Ridge Community Theater's current show. For many longtime residents, though, it is simply the barbecue they have been going to since they were kids, run by the same network of churches that has kept it going for 45 years.

The Good Samaritans of Fannin County can be reached by mail at P.O. Box 1865, Blue Ridge, GA 30513, or by phone at (706) 455-5516 for anyone looking to donate or ask about assistance outside of today's event.

Find more community happenings and support efforts like this one on the Blue Ridge Georgia Community Website, and share your own memories of past Labor Day BBQs or photos from today's crowd in our Community Forum. For more stories like this one, visit our community news section or check out our upcoming events coverage.