MILTON A year after its resurgence, Miltons Junction Function is back for another go-around.
The Oct. 17 event, hosted by the Milton Area Chamber of Commerce, will once again feature separate competitions for barbecue grilling and baking, plus live music. Junction Function is set in Liberty Park and in the parking lots along Merchant Row in the citys westside downtown.
Chamber Director Deb Williamson said the Junction Function was organized to reinvigorate a popular event of yesteryear that some Milton residents remembered fondly.
People came to listen to music, dancing spontaneously to music, and trying their food samples, Williamson said.
The original iteration of the Junction Function was in the 1990s. The chamber ran it then as well, with help from the local fire department. The fire department was unable to continue cohosting the event after a few years, according to local historian Doug Welch, so the event went away.
It was a brief, but memorable part of Miltons history.
Everyone was doing what they could and everyone was having a good time, Welch said.
The 1990s version of Junction Function had live music, Bovine Bingo and a beer tent. A chicken barbecue was a staple on the citys east side, so Junction Function and its ribs were a complement to that event on the citys western half. There just was no grilling competition.
It was a cool thing for a few years, Welch said. I remember it being quite fun.
For one of last years grillers, the competition served as a springboard for work in the culinary industry. Daniel Soto, originally of Whitewater, now has a food trailer named Dsos Texas Style BBQ, a business he started shortly after a rousing response to his food in the Junction Function grilling competition last year.
Cooking and grilling has been a longtime passion and hobby for Soto, but he never had a food business. That changed after Junction Function.
Soto thought Junction Function was a perfect opportunity for him and his wife to sell their brand of grilled food. It wasnt necessarily a chance to compete in a barbecue-grilling contest.
We just went to sell chicken wings and pork steak kabobs, Soto said.
They sold orders of wings for $8; the steak kabobs went for $5. The wings and kabobs went so quickly that Soto and his wife couldnt keep up with the demand, he said.
The reaction we received from the people attending the Junction Function was great because they kept asking us, Where is your food truck? Soto said.
Soto and his wife later traveled to southern Illinois to buy an actual food trailer. They have competed at several events since, winning or placing highly in many of them.
Even though Soto hadnt started his business yet, Williamson said his experience shows what Junction Function can do for business people like Soto.
It shows the kind of exposure that a business can get. He didnt have any of that. He just had a grill.
Soto returns this year. Hell join at least 17 others at Junction Function in the grilling and baking contests. A panel of judges score based on both taste and presentation.
The judges have not been announced.
There were 11 grillers and six bakers signed up to compete as of Sept. 29. First place receives $500. Second place receives $200. People can still register to compete.
People who attend Junction Function can buy a VIP ticket to sample from multiple competitors. Otherwise, attendance is free, and attendees can buy food from individual competitors. Beer and wine is available for purchase at the events beer garden.
This years Junction Function will feature live music by Andy Ellefson. There will also be about 30 vendors, and a bean bag tournament.
The event features a raffle for a grill and smoker donated by First Community Bank, and a raffle for a hog donated by Sorgs Quality Meats & Sausages.