Barnesville.com

FRIDAY:

If you are a gearhead, you can enter your custom car, truck or motorcycle or your vintage tractor in the Smokin’ Wheels Car Show at United Bank. Or you can just walk through and check out all the cool rides and the AMS pace car.

There will be free music downtown near the United Bank drive-through featuring the Blues Fish, the Neal Lucas Band and 4U2C with various special guests.

SATURDAY:

You can help judge the pro cook teams’ efforts by participating in the People’s Choice event. You can sample food from 24 teams and pick your favorite. There will also be a Paint the Town competition and a pig which plays the saxophone. At noon, there is more free music featuring Biscuit and Friends, Veronika Jackson and Pryme.

Saturday night sees the action move to Ritz Park for the presentation of the Dewaine T. Bell music scholarship and the Georgia Music Legend Award which will go to blueswoman E.G. Kight.

There will be blistering jams by The Melflames, The Crossroads Blues Band and Men in Blues.

All weekend long you can drop your kids at the Kids Park which will feature more activities than ever before. A $10 wristband is good for allday admission. You can also drop by The Herald-Gazette lot on Greenwood Street and watch the filming of an episode of BBQ Pitmasters.

You can also get a raffle ticket for a chance to win a Primo Grill.

Butts County sheriff Gary Long and his deputies are searching for a man on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle after a stabbing incident on Hwy. 36 near the Lamar County line. [Full Story »] 

When sports broadcaster Pat Summerall died last week in Dallas at age 82, an old legendary Gordon Military legend was brought under scrutiny. [Full Story »] 

Every possible scenario to reduce traffic and parking issues during BBQ & Blues 2013 has been studied but there is simply no way to put on an event this size and not have some street closures.

“We have gone to great lengths to keep Main, Market and other downtown streets open for access to local businesses. We want festival visitors to shop in our business district,” event chairman T.J. Imberger said. [Full Story »] 

The Godfather, Harvey Coffer, will perform with 4U2C when they headline Friday night’s free concert at BBQ & Blues.

“He does old school blues and soul and has been performing in Jacksonville a lot,” noted 4U2C member Warren Bush. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

In just its ninth year, the Barnesville BBQ & Blues Festival has grown into one of the premiere events of its type in the southeast and nationally.

Approximately 50 cook teams will be in town this week. Their campers and smokers will start rolling in on Thursday night and, by Friday morning, the air will be filled with the aroma of pork, chicken and brisket prepared as it was intended. [Full Story »] 

By Sherri Ellington

Brutz English appeared at a meeting of the concerned citizens of northeast Lamar County and said he planned to open his track last weekend, charge admission and to have BYOB alcohol on site, according to zoning administrator Dan Gunter who said such action would constitute a violation.

Those remarks resulted in multiple complaints communicated to The Herald Gazette and the Lamar County commission. [Full Story »] 

This letter to the editor arrived at The Herald-Gazette. It was penned by Travis Ball from the Lamar County jail. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

Alleged Lighthouse Restaurant arsonist Stephen Neal Brehaut may not enter a guilty plea in Lamar superior court April 24 as was announced during the pre-trial calendar call April 11.

Brehaut has filed two motions that would tend to at least delay any plea. [Full Story »]