Not even off-and-on rain could dampen the smoky enthusiasm at this year\u2019s Key Biscayne Rib-Off, an Island tradition which blends community spirit, friendly competition and philanthropy.<\/p>\n
Now in its 20th year, the idea for the Rib-Off began as a friendly backyard barbecue among friends and has grown into one of Key Biscayne\u2019s signature events. Held at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club, the Rib-Off honors the life of co-founder Dr. Robert Kemper by raising funds for the Dr. Robert Kemper Award for Professionalism in Medicine at Florida International University.<\/p>\n
The Key Biscayne Community Foundation serves as the event\u2019s financial sponsor.<\/p>\n
The award, established in 2013 as part of FIU\u2019s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, recognizes fourth-year medical students who demonstrate respect, altruism, community spirit and the personal demeanor essential to becoming physicians.<\/p>\n
Despite showers, some heavy at times with gusting winds, 23 teams pressed on, tending grills beneath tents and umbrellas as guests sampled ribs and an array of side dishes. During the rainy episodes, tents became crowded gathering spots filled with laughter, music, conversation and plenty of food.<\/p>\n
If there was an award for loudest and liveliest tent, the KB Beer Team might have claimed it. The group of friends, who gather weekly at Milanezza to \u201cjust talk, have fun,\u201d brought energy and lots of smiles, along with a delicious tortilla Espa\u00f1ola and a mean and delicious egg and chorizo breakfast burrito.<\/p>\n
The competition was tight as just 1.17588 points separated first and second place. Stony Broma\u2019s, captained by Aabad Melwani, narrowly claimed top honors over The Ribbones, captained by Andres Navarro. After taking first place last year, Smilin\u2019 Swine, captained by Jorge Blanco and Beth Azola, finished third.<\/p>\n
\u201cShout out to all the competitors, event organizers, The Kemper Family, KBYC, KB Community Foundation, Lou\u2019s Dogs, judges and sponsors,\u201d Melwani said. \u201cCan\u2019t think of a better community to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other members of Stony Broma\u2019s team included Alvaro Silva, Bruce Carrick, Henrique Cisneros, James Wolcott, Jorge Granier, Manny Rionda and Santi M\u00e1s.<\/p>\n
Organizers also worked to make the event environmentally conscious, encouraging plastic-free and compostable serveware. Rionda, founder of FillABag and a member of the Stony Broma\u2019s team, thanked competitors for their efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpecial thanks to all the teams that chose plastic-free and compostable serveware this year,\u201d Rionda said. \u201cDespite the rain, we all shared in the beauty of Biscayne Bay and reminders of small steps we can take to protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the weather tested the event\u2019s resolve, the Rib-Off passed with flying colors, proving once again that on Key Biscayne, community spirit is as strong as ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not even off-and-on rain could dampen the smoky enthusiasm at this year\u2019s Key Biscayne Rib-Off, an Island tradition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31797,85639,85640,126,85638,37916,123,125,124,79015],"class_list":{"0":"post-181398","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-barbecue","9":"tag-dr-robert-kemper","10":"tag-dr-robert-kemper-award","11":"tag-key-biscayne","12":"tag-key-biscayne-rib-off","13":"tag-key-biscayne-yacht-club","14":"tag-miami","15":"tag-miami-headlines","16":"tag-miami-news","17":"tag-rib-off"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}