Mayor Pigg brings home the bacon: World Barbecue Hall of Fame set for Memphis

Oct. 9, 2012 - PRLog -- Paris has the Eiffel Tower. New York has the Statue of Liberty. Pigeon Forge has Dollywood. Will Memphis soon boast the equal of those iconic attractions?

“Not equal,” says Memphis Mayor Pete Pigg. “Better.”

Pigg, who also owns the popular Beale Street restaurant, the Pigg Pen, noted for its delectable ribs and willing waitresses, the Pigglettes, is thrilled to announce the opening of the World Barbecue Hall of Fame in Memphis, Tennessee. An opening date has not yet been determined.

The idea has long been on Mayor Pigg’s mind. “I was suckled on pork meat and sauce,” he says. “I hear they got a Hall of Fame for baseball, of all things. Why not barbecue? It just makes sense.”

The World Barbecue Hall of Fame will feature exhibits tracing the history of outdoor cooking dating back to the cavemen. On display will be the first meat smoker ever built and photos of past champions of the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. Visitors will be able to “pig out” at a food court and buy barbecue sauces, dry rub mixes, aprons, and pig-themed key chains and T-shirts. But they better beware of the guy in the pig costume being chased by the white-costumed chef!

“That’ll be a rip,” says Mayor Pigg. “I’m lookin’ forward to that one.” The mayor predicts the Hall of Fame will be a bigger attraction than Graceland, Beale Street, Sun Studio, and the Memphis Zoo.

Tourism dollars won’t be the only benefit it brings. City Council Chairman Waldo Jefferson touts the jobs the project will create. “Why, take my brother-in-law,” Jefferson says. “He’s got a public relations business but no clients. He’ll be hired on as a consultant. So, for me, the Hall of Fame looks like a real boon to small businessmen.”

Ditto for Augustine Eldridge, the current owner of the Hall of Fame site next to The Pyramid. “It’s valuable property,” says Eldridge. “The city will pay plenty. Sure, I’d say that’s good for the local economy.”

Eldridge plans to use the proceeds to fund his own business, the making of “art films—the kind with uninhibited college kids.” The Hall of Fame may even end up on screen. “Pork, squealing—I ought to be able to come up with a title there somewhere,” Eldridge says. “I’ll have to think on that.”

Reserve your tickets now—for the World Barbecue Hall of Fame and maybe even the movies!

This press release announces a fictional event in the novel The Politics of Barbecue by Blake Fontenay (John F. Blair, Publisher, Sept. 2012).