Rock'n Ribs raises $152K for local charities

The 2013 Rock‘n Ribs BBQ Festival raised $152,250 for children's charities in the Ozarks.

The April 19-20 festival - conducted by the five Springfield Rotary Clubs and the Rotaract Club of Springfield and sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society - brought the 14-year total for the event to $1.3 million. A move to the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds this year brought in a record 72 teams participating and an estimated 35,000 attendees, according to a news release.

Charity recipients are:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks;
• Boys & Girls Town of Missouri;
• Good Samaritan Boys Ranch;
• Ozarks Trails Boy Scouts;
• Ronald McDonald Tooth Truth;
• Ozarks Regional YMCA; and
• Harmony House.