Longtime cook-off is this weekend

Professional cooks are going to be cooking up some barbecue at Lake Ponca this weekend. The Barbecue Cook-off benefits Hospice of North Central Oklahoma and is a longtime event. Robyn Ryan said Women of Professionals Today host it.

"This being our 28 th year, in our first 27 years I am proud to say we have given our local non profit Hospice of North Central Oklahoma over $400,000 from this cook-off," Ryan said. "We make money in addition to sponsors and the cooks that come in and compete, another way we make money is by selling tasting kits."

Tasting kits are $5 in advance or $6 at the event. Tickets can be bought at any local bank, The Bag Lady, the Chamber or the Hospice office.

Ryan said they are also bringing back the chili part of the cook-off.

"A few years ago we made the decision to not sanction the chili, we just didn’t have as much interest in that and the fees we were having to pay for that," Ryan said. "Now we have a lot of civic groups and peoples choice teams who will make chili, but I would say the majority of the food you’re going to get to sample is going to be barbecue."

This event actually started as a chili cook-off.

They’re aware of the chance of rain, but that hasn’t stopped them in previous years. The cook-off starts at 12:30 on Saturday, but Ryan suggest you get there early.