Racks of ribs, heavy heat highlight last day of Boardman fest

BOARDMAN

If Saturday’s temperature in the low 90s and complementary humidity weren’t enough to convince you that summer is here to stay for a while, then perhaps standing close to a large grill and watching Clifford Mortimer prepare a slab of lean St. Louis spare ribs will seal the deal.

“It’s like a Kansas City sauce. Kansas City has brown sugar and molasses, and is tomato-based,” the Birmingham, Ala., man explained about the barbecue sauce with which he coated the large rack of ribs.

Mortimer, who owns Sweet Home BBQ restaurant in Clay, Ala., added a lightly spiced aroma to the atmosphere Saturday afternoon during the third and final day of the inaugural Ribs-N-Rock Festival in the Southern Park Mall parking lot, which kicked off Thursday.

Mortimer is a friend of the owner of Barry Dyngle’s Pub in Austintown, who convinced him to come to the Mahoning Valley for the event, he explained. Being around spare ribs certainly is nothing new for Mortimer, who has taken part in about 300 such competitions since 1993, he said.

Not far away, Nicole Vaughn of Elizabethtown, Ky., was basting a rack of St. Louis-style ribs with a thick layer of golden spice-flavored sauce.

Read more about the event in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.