Saline County enjoys bluegrass, barbecue

HARRISBURG - Fans of bluegrass, barbecue and cool fall temperatures turned out in droves to enjoy the Bluegrass and Barbecue Festival at Saline Creek Historical Museum and Village on Saturday.

For one vendor, it was a chance to share a slightly different take on barbecue.

Wayne Beal of Harrisburg makes fresh barbecue pork rinds. He seasons them with either a mild or a hot barbecue flavoring, and he also makes a ranch-flavored variety that were popular with festivalgoers Saturday.

Beal said he's been making fresh pork rinds for about two years.

"They've gone over pretty well," Beal said.

Nearby, as the sound of one bluegrass group wafted across the grounds, Caleb Boulds of Eldorado had a wide variety of pumpkins on display for sale. Boulds, whose family farms near Eldorado, said he's been pleased with the success of growing pumpkins.

"Everyone likes pumpkins this time of year," he said. "And everyone has a certain variety they like."

Boulds said in addition to standard farming methods, he raises about an acre of organic pumpkins.

"They've done just about as well as the other pumpkins," he said.

The Saline County Tourism board, who organizes the festival, said easily more than 500 people came to the event.