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Where's the beef? The Rotary Club's got it!

Beef on a Bun cooks slow but tasty

Beef lovers are again expected to go nuts over the open fire stoked by the Rotary Club during Squamish Days Loggers Sports Saturday and Sunday (July 31 to Aug. 1).

About 1,300 pounds of beef will be slow cooking rotisserie-style over a massive fire fueled by pieces of alder cuttings from the Loggers Sports grounds for the annual Rotary Club Beef on a Bun, said Rotarian Randall Bamford.

"It's a lot of beef," he said. "I was shocked the first time I saw it. It's really something to see all that meat being cooked at one time."

Part of the bar-bee-crew of about 45 Rotarians gets the fires flaring bright and early at 5a.m. When the embers are just right the beef is marinated with big paint sticks while the skewers are leveled precisely over the heat and cooked for about six hours.

The same sacred sauce concocted by Rotarian John Drenka decades ago continues to zap the taste buds of hungry guests, said Rotarian Denise Imbeau.

"It's unbelievable how good this beef is," she said. "We can't just give this recipe to people. You have to be a Rotarian to have access."

The mysterious sauce and tender-loving roasting attracts lineups throughout the day. The fire pit is a massive 3.5 metres in diameter and over a metre deep, while the actual fire takes up about half that space, said Bamford.

Chicken was on the menu at the beginning of Squamish Days and beef took over the menu about four years later. So, the sacred process has been spinning steady for nearly 50 years.

The Rotary Club typically sells over 2,400 sandwiches, and has been known to run out, so get in line early. The perfect slice of beef takes a little patience.

Monies raised go to Loggers Sports. A beef on a bun costs $5. Come hungry for a large logger's lunch.

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