Joe Cain loves to go down memory lane when festival season rolls around. At any given moment, he can rattle off a series of things that have happened over the 27 years that the Island Recreation Center has been putting on its soon-to-be-world-famous WingFest. This year’s fest is coming up March 23 at Lowcountry Celebration Park on the island’s south end.
It’s easy to talk shop with Joe, especially about the wings and all the work that goes into putting on one of the largest events of the year on Hilton Head Island. This year, I hit him with a flurry of questions to give you an idea of where this event came from and what it takes to deliver it every year.
Albert Gisbert, Ray Deal, Mayor Alan Perry, Jeff Laben and Jesse Blanco.
JB: Do you remember the first year?
JC: Yes. It was in a grassy area in front of San Miguel’s restaurant in Shelter Cove Harbour. There’s a timeshare building there now. I remember people were happy that they could walk over to San Miguel’s and buy a liquor drink, because we had only beer at the festival. We did that for five or six years before we moved it.
JB: How many participants did you have those first couple of years?
JC: I believe there were eight restaurants. Then it jumped to 12. We are up to around 15 now, so it has grown, but not that much. I mean, we have to have room for everyone the day of the festival, so we are limited for space.
JB: What else do you remember about the origins of the festival?
JC: It was part of Springfest, which included the Hilton Head Wine Festival. We were kind of at the end of that. Now the Wine Fest is the week after us.
Jesse Blanco with Island Rec Center’s Joe Cain, rocking his infamous Buffalo Wing hat.
JB: How many wings are involved in this event every year?
JC: Last year, we were up to 8,000 pounds of wings. We will probably do similar this year. We take delivery every year and we have to deliver them as quickly as possible to the participants. We divide and conquer. I take the south end of the island and Leah (Arnold) takes the north end and Bluffton. It’s a long day with two box trucks, but we get them delivered.
JB: How many vendors will there be this year at WingFest?
JC: Probably about 14. That’s besides the wings, of course. We use every bit of space we get at Lowcountry Celebration Park.
JB: How much money is raised from this event and where does it go?
JC: I don’t know exactly, but I would say in the $15,000 to $20,000 range. The money goes to the Carmines Family Recreation Scholarship Fund at Island Rec Center.
Albert Gisbert, City of Miami Fire Department and Jesse Blanco.
JB: How many kids would you say are participants at the Rec Center?
JC: Oh, it’s about 1,000 – when you consider the kids that play basketball, the after-school programs and summer.
JB: How many volunteers does it take to pull off WingFest?
JC: About 100 volunteers, plus the 20 or so of us that work at the Rec Center. We need people to take tickets, assist with parking, help with ticket sales, help with the judges. All of the help is welcomed because it is a lot of work to pull off the festival every year.
JB: Anything different this year?
JC: Nope. March 23 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. We will have live music from multiple bands and a whole lot of fun.
JB: Before we go, tell me one memorable moment from the 27 years of WingFest?
JC: That’s easy. I believe it was year 17. We usually ask the participants not to do terribly hot wings for the judges. Well, that year the firefighters decided they wanted to enter their WMD – Wings of Mass Destruction. They were so hot, it brought the judging to a halt. Palates were destroyed. Everyone was chugging beer, which, of course, doesn’t really help with heat. Milk is much better, but we didn’t have any. We asked them not to do that again.
