49TH ANNUAL CHICKEN BARBECUE, CAR SHOW & AUCTION TO BE HELD ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 8

Chick BBQ

The 49th Annual Chicken Barbecue, Car Show and Auction will be held on Saturday, Aug. 9, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cross Keys Village – The Brethren Home Community, at the intersection of routes 30 and 94 (Cross Keys), less than two miles east of the New Oxford town square.

Admission and parking are free.

(Click here for scenes from last year’s event.)

Barbecue chicken meals ($8) will be available for on-site dining or take-out (drive-through pickup near PNC Bank), starting at 10:15 a.m. Lots of other food choices are offered as well.

The auction begins at 1 p.m. and features antiques, collectibles and beautiful handcrafted quilts. (An auction preview will be held on Friday, Aug. 7, from 5-7 p.m., as well as Saturday morning.) This year’s unusual items include an antique dresser with a desk-like, fold-down door, a buckboard seat, and a collection of classic radio programs.

The Classic Car Show (up to 1972 model year) will be staged in the Assisted Living parking lot and on the lawn between Assisted Living and U.S. 30. As many as 100 cars are expected.

Other popular features return: craft vendors, collectible stamps, the used book sale, bake sale, live music and more. Both the Bee Hive Gift Shop and the Almost New Shop will be open.

Also returning this year will be the kids’ play area that was a popular addition in 2008. It will include a Moon Bounce, dunking booth, games, storytellers, popcorn, cotton candy and more.

The musical entertainment will feature vocalist Rhonda Lee, a very popular attraction in the past who has a new country show; the Black Rose Brass Quintet, all current or former members of the Hanover Symphony, the Hanover Express bluegrass band, the Cross Keys’ own Villager Choir and Assisted Living Warblers.

(The music continues Sunday, Aug. 9, when the Gospel Travelers will perform at 6:30 p.m. in Nicarry Meetinghouse.)

Free shuttle buses will take attendees from the parking lots to the food, craft and car show areas, as well as Nicarry Meetinghouse for the auction. A new Centennial Wall heritage display also will be open for viewing near the auction location, and buses will stop at the Welcome Center/Marketing Cottage. The new Harvey S. Kline Wellness Center and Harmony Ridge Community Center expansion will be open for those interested in seeing these facilities.

Proceeds from the event benefit the Brethren Home Auxiliary, which supports the Good Samaritan Fund for charitable care, as well as various projects that benefit residents at Cross Keys.

Call 717-624-5203 during weekday business hours for more information about this great summer tradition.