HEBRON — The seventh Redneck Blank Pig Roast and Music Festival was held for the last time at its Hebron location this weekend — and there was plenty of beer, mud and fun on Saturday.
Throughout the 210-acre farm owned by event creator Harold Brooks were hundreds of campers and tents with thousands of people driving golf carts, four-wheelers and lifted trucks, drinking beer and getting muddy.
“We get people from all over, and we get all kinds,” Brooks said. “There are people here with $80,000 campers and there are people here who don’t have a pot to piss in.”
But they all come together to have a good time.
A man could be seen driving a Husqvarna lawn mower hauling a trailer with eight people aboard, each smiling with a beer in hand.
In front of the stage, where bands Fire in the Hole, South City Band and Stolen Mojo would later perform, was a beer tent equipped with a full bar, and booths offering everything from tie-dyed T-shirts to medical marijuana.
“I tell all my friends to come here,” said Tracey Maloy of Belgrade, who camped out for the whole weekend this year with her fiancé Jared Wadleigh. “It’s one of the best parties in Maine.”
Last year, they came just for Saturday, and Maloy participated in the Very Wet T-Shirt contest. This year, she didn’t participate in Olympic-style games such as the Tire Beer Trot, the pie-eating contest or the mud tug-of-war, but had just as much fun watching, she said.
Brooks intends to keep the fun going at the new location of future Redneck Blanks.
He’s in the process of purchasing the former Evergreen Valley Ski Resort in Stoneham by Bob Bahre of Black Bear Realty, who Brooks called a “decent, honorable man.”
The new venue is much larger than the current one, and Brooks has plans for 700 camp sites, a playground, paddle boating and more. His goal is to host a variety of events, such as music festivals, “tough mudder” obstacle courses and fundraisers for veterans and those who have pediatric cancer.
“We want to work with the town of Stoneham — it benefits from us being here,” Brooks said. “We want to create jobs and donate $2 to $3 per ticket sold directly to the town.”
While it may take Brooks a couple of years to get the next Redneck Blank up and running at its new site, those who love a good time and some mud can rest assured that when it does come back, it’ll be bigger and better than ever.
emarquis@sunmediagroup.net
A Redneck Blank staff member demonstrates how to run the Tire Beer Trot event in Hebron on Saturday.
Cyndy Campbell downs a beer to finish first in her heat of the Tire Beer Trot event on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Cyndy Campbell celebrates finishing first in her heat of the Tire Beer Trot event on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Jackie Dakin takes a photo of her friend, Cyndy Campbell, celebrating her first-place finish in the Tire Beer Trot event on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Fans cheer the start of the Greased Watermelon Haul event on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Laine Wellington of Warren gets off to a fast start in the Greased Watermelon Haul event on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Laine Wellington of Warren holds onto his lead and his melons in Greased Watermelon Haul event on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Dalton Peasley of Monmouth carries Jessica Lappin of Norway in the wife-carrying event on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Cheered on by event staff, Jessica Lappin of Norway celebrates as she’s carried the final stretch of the wife-carrying course by Dalton Peasley of Monmouth on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Dan Sleeper and Baylee Ayres of Turner watch the festivities from high on the rim of the gravel pit amphitheater on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
A Redneck Blank staff member demonstrates how to run the Tire Beer Trot event in Hebron on Saturday.
A group poses for a photo while watching the games on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Thomas Fuller of Fryeburg blows some glass on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron. Fuller started blowing glass last year after taking classes in Burlington, Vermont.
Jeff St. Amand of L/A Music Productions of Maine serves as master of ceremonies at the Redneck Blank on Saturday in Hebron.
Cameron Allen views the games perched atop Tyler Belanger’s creatively parked Jeep on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Jaiden Jack, left, and Richie and Jesse McMillen watch the games atop the gravel pit amphitheater on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
With spectators behind on the rim of the gravel pit amphitheater, Norm Dakin of Gorham participates in the Toilet Seat Horseshoes event on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Eventual winner and former Marine Shaun Grady of Stowe participates in the Toilet Seat Horseshoes event on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron. Attending the event for first time, Grady said, “I love it.”
Dan Sleeper and Baylee Ayres of Turner watch the festivities from high on the rim of the gravel pit amphitheater on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Gunth Giacobbe, left, of Templeton, Massachusetts, and Zack Wojdak of Gardner, Massachusetts, arrive at the venue on their ATV. “This place is mint,” Giaccobe said of the event.
John Neff of Lisbon Falls displays what he calls “redneck wind chimes” on the side of his camper on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron. In the background, he gets ready to prepare a late lunch.
Most attendees of the Redneck Blank festival use ATVs to traverse the grounds.
Greg Waters of Lisbon Falls works on a chain saw wood carving on Saturday at the Redneck Blank in Hebron.
Drew Cramer and Katie Billings, behind, travel the dusty roads of the event grounds on their ATV yesterday at the Redneck Olympics in Hebron. Asked what’s great about the event, Cramer explained, “Good people and I love muddin’.”
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