Rinaldi with Myron Mixon, celebrity chef and four-time barbecue World Champion.
HINSDALE, Mass. — Professional barbecue teams from all over New England will compete at the Harpoon BBQ Festival in Windsor, Vt., on July 27-28, with hopes of being crowned the grand champion and earning a ticket to the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue.
And Berkshire County's own George Rinaldi will be among them.
Rinaldi, 54, of Hinsdale, has been competing on the professional Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned circuit for eight years. He and his family travel to six or seven competitions annually. They've been all over New England, as well as in New Jersey, Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas. At a typical event, competitors must deliver their entries in four categories (chicken, ribs, pork and brisket) to the master judges by pre-specified times — and not a second later.
Rinaldi's skills have earned many trophies, including a first-place prize for his Ribs Division win at a recent competition in New Jersey.
"There are usually anywhere from 35 to 60 teams at each competition," Rinaldi said. "I try to stay in the top 10."
As his reputation has grown locally, he's begun taking on small weekend catering jobs to supplement his full-time work in the Facilities Department at Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America's Pittsfield office.
For Rinaldi, it all started several years ago when he was walking to a friend's house and smelled what he what he said was a heavenly scent.
"My friend said, 'I'm smoking sausage,' and then he showed me the smoker he was using," Rinaldi remembered. "Since that day, I've known what I wanted to do. I've been fortunate to have been trained by Myron Mixon, to have a strong mentor in Daryl Strickland and several good friends, including Kenny Nadeau, who are committed to my success."
Before embarking on the professional barbecue circuit, Rinaldi took two professional classes — one in Maryland and one in Alabama. He now owns two smokers — a Lang 84-inch Reverse Flow Smoker and a Myron Mixon G33 Gravity-Feed Smoker — and must choose between them when traveling to a competition based on what he'll be preparing.
"I have excellent support this year, with sponsorships from Market 32, North Elm Butcher Block and Uncle Kenny's BBQ Sauce," he said.
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Dalton Water Commissioners Cited for OML Violations
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Board of Water Commissioners has been flagged for violating the Open Meeting Law during a summer meeting.
The state Attorney General's Office found that the board, which oversees the Fire District, improperly deliberated before its July 30 meeting and held said meeting upstairs at an inaccessible location. On Jan. 27, the AG reached a determination after the board was reported in September for several actions.
"The complaint alleges that prior to its July 30 meeting, the Board met with Treasurer/Clerk Melanie Roucoulet to 'coordinate before the public meeting . . . .' The complaint further alleges that such discussions are a regular occurrence. In its response, the Board does not deny that it met prior to the July 30 meeting. Instead, the Board acknowledges that it has a practice of gathering in Ms. Roucoulet's office prior to its formal meetings 'to discuss . . . New Correspondence . . . and also to sign . . . Treasury and Payroll Warrants,'" the determination reads.
"Finally, the Board commits to ceasing such gatherings going forward. Based on this information, we find that the Board violated the Open Meeting Law by improperly deliberating prior to its July 30 meeting."
It was also alleged that the notice for the meeting included an insufficiently specific topic and that the audio recording was destroyed but the AG's office did not find these as violations.
Former fire chief Christian Tobin filed the complaint on or around Aug. 1, and the board's response was emailed on Aug. 25. Tobin was terminated earlier this year after a short tenure with the town.
The decision came after an investigation by Kerry Gilpin of Comprehensive Investigations and Consulting, which began when the board announced Tobin's paid suspension in August over allegations of sexual harassment, grant overspending, and employee concerns. The suspension was originally for a month but was indefinitely extended in September until the investigation into Tobin's conduct was complete.
The office received the complaint on Sept. 7; below is its findings :
With respect to a July 30 board meeting that the board improperly deliberated prior to the meeting, that the notice for the meeting included an insufficiently specific topic, and that the meeting was held at an inaccessible location. The complaint additionally alleges that Melanie Roucoulet, Treasurer/Clerk, destroys audio recordings of Board meetings.
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