Saturdays in Shenandoah are for the birds.
If you see a plume of smoke rising on a Saturday morning in the Shenandoah Valley, follow it. Odds are it will lead you to a pile of chicken barbecued low ‘n slow over a charcoal pit by someone like Rafe Rohrer.
“Roll down your window and let your nose lead you to it,” says Rohrer, 65, who’s been turning birds on the grill for years as a member of the Montezuma Ruritan Club. The civic service organization is among nearly a dozen in the Valley whose fundraisers revolve around turning locally raised poultry into barbecued gold, wrapped and often sold out by mid-morning at $3.50 a half-portion.
Members rise before dawn to get the charcoal smoldering in a cinderblock pit behind the Montezuma baseball field. Onto the grates go nearly 900 pounds of poultry to be constantly turned and slathered in a sauce of vinegar, oil, lemon juice and spices over four to five hours.
When the club started in the mid-1960s, one of its original members and pitmasters was Dave Shirkey. To this day, Rohrer says, they use his recipe. “We’re there until we complete the task,” he says. But “once we get the chicken done, it’s not long before it’s gone.”
Chicken Run
Where to find more of the Valley’s best.
Briery Branch Ruritan Club, Dayton
Select Saturday mornings
Fulks Run Ruritan Club, Timberville
Select Saturday mornings
Montezuma Ruritan Club Baseball Field, Dayton
First Saturday of every month
This article originally appeared in our Smoke & Salt 2018 issue.
