Optimist Club of Cornwall Ribfest crowds thrill organizers, musicians

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Donato Brunetti went straight to the source of delicious grilled ribs and chicken.

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He dipped an oversized toothpick into a pan full of reddish-brown sauce, sitting right in front of the smoky confines of a riber.

“I like trying the different sauces, deciding which (ribs) to try,” Brunetti said as his wife, Lisa, awaited his assessment before deciding which long line he should join.

It was the couple’s first foray into the Cornwall Ribfest, Brunetti said, adding that they decided to go on Saturday as he returned on Sunday.

“It’s really good,” he said, not just of the rib sauce, but of the Cornwall Ribfest. “I was very impressed, the food, the music.”

Attracting new patrons (and keeping current guests) is a great sign for the Optimist Club of Cornwall’s signature four-day event.

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“I’d say Thursday (attendance) was kind of soft because of the rain and the cold, but Friday night the Barstool Prophets brought it out,” said longtime Ribfest organizer Terry Muir, predicting the Lamoureux Park crowd grew to over 20,000 people.

He said the expansive crowd not only brought him a satisfied smile, but also caught The Wilderness, who were the warm-up band, on edge.

“(The lead singer) looked at the build-up (of fans) — the look of shock on his face,” Muir recalled.

When a patron washed the final rib early Sunday evening, the Muir numbers attendance approached 80,000, a likely record.

“Operationally, it’s probably one of the best, if not the best, we’ve had,” he said. “The team worked really well, we had no real problems and everyone seemed happy.”

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The 60 Optimist members couldn’t have done it without about 140 other volunteers, Muir said. He gave a special shout out to Cornwall Police Service who agreed to his request to beef up their presence following a serious incident on the field last year.

“We’ve had a lot of support from the Cornwall Police and (City of Cornwall) employees who really bend over backwards for us,” he said. “With this amount of support, the tension has gone down; it dropped mine, because you kind of wait for the shoe to drop and it didn’t.”

For the most part, sunny skies and pleasant temperatures helped turnout for what Muir believes was their best musical line-up yet, which included Saturday night headliners Crash Test Dummies.

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Leading up to Dummies and the Prophets, Muir said the festival is great exposure for up-and-coming bands, specifically pointing out a big group of teenagers calling themselves Hoozhear.

“There are about 18 in the band, but for a concert it’s who shows up. They’ve been amazing and having the chance to support young people fits right into our raison d’être,” Muir said of the Optimists’ raison d’être.

The high turnout will be a huge boon to the optimists’ community service.

“As an organizer, I’m pleased to know that it went really well and that the public definitely supported it,” he said, estimating the funds raised from ribers and other vendors, sponsorships and donations to be more than $100,000 .

“The money raised will help so many children and their families over the next year.”

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