St Patrick Church

I’ve been jonesing for a good church picnic ever since my wife and I moved from Texas to Tennessee last year. Luckily for us, St. Patrick’s Church in McEwen, Tennessee holds an annual picnic which was once heralded by The Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest outdoor barbecue. How could I possibly resist?
Each year, St. Patrick’s serves up some twenty thousand pounds of hickory-​smoked pulled pork to hordes of hungry picnic-​goers. While McEwen’s normal population is in the neighborhood of seventeen hundred, it’s not at all unusual to see that number rise to twenty-​five thousand during picnic weekend. To satisfy the massive crowds, church members and other volunteers man the smokers for twenty-​four hours straight. Wow!
In addition to the run-​of-​the-​mill ring toss, fish pond, and cake walk-​type games, there was some really great live music. We listened to the Maple Valley Boys for a while, then the Harpeth Band. They were both really talented, with a mixture of country and bluegrass styles.
I couldn’t resist their $ 8.00 dinner plate of pulled pork, green beans, potato salad, coleslaw, dessert, and sweet tea. That was quite a deal, plus they had a fried chicken option for my wife, who isn’t nearly the barbecue fanatic that I am. I was completely taken aback by the gigantic plate of food that I received for a measly eight bucks! The potato salad was really delicious, with a great crunch from all of the pickles and onions. Mayonnaise-​based coleslaws are not my favorite side dish, so this was a welcome change of pace. Something slightly spicy caught my attention every now and then, but I couldn’t quite place it. Although the green beans obviously came from a can, the addition of spices and pork transformed them into something closer to homemade.
Despite being cooked in absolutely massive quantities, the pulled pork was phenomenal. The meat was smoky and also very tender and juicy. The seasoning was simple, but just right. The pieces of bark, of which I found plenty, were even tastier. This was definitely some of the best pulled pork that I’ve had. I’m not generally a big fan of barbecue sauce, but I really liked this one. The liquidy tomato and vinegar sauce had a good kick and a nice acidity to it. St. Patrick’s also sells this stuff by the bottle at their picnic, and it’s clear why.
My wife wanted to grab a snack before we left, and I was in complete agreement. Although her cinnamon and brown sugar funnel cake looked fabulous, I wasn’t really in the mood for anything sweet. I certainly didn’t need it, but I threw caution to the wind and picked up a pulled pork sandwich for my snack/​early dinner. This sandwich was absolutely packed with pulled pork in quantities that rivaled my prior lunch plate, and it was just as tasty. No sauce was needed here either, but the pickles did add some nice sour notes. I ended up with even more bark than in round one, and I loved every bite.
The only bad part to our day was having to make the hour-​and-​a-​half drive home on an incredibly full stomach. We will definitely be attending the 2016 picnic!