THE Royal Hotel Sofala is presenting the fifth annual 'Jerk Off', which will see mate against mate, and steak against steak in the original jerky making competition.
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The 'Jerk Off' will take place on Australia Day from 10am, but competitors have until 12pm to enter their jerky into the event, which will, this year, be judged by a special guest.
After attending the annual Australia Day events at Sofala for the past few years, councillor Benjamin Fry finally got the call he was waiting for.
He will finally be in the jerky tasting room, where he will be faced with the difficult task of announcing the overall 'Jerk Off' winner.
"I love jerky, I'm partial to a jerky every now and then and consider myself a bit of a connoisseur," he said.
"There's a few things in local government after you're elected that you want to really tick off, and a lot of that is infrastructure and roads and that sort of stuff ...
"But I think I've hit a sort of highlight in my councillor career here in being a special judge in the jerky competition at Sofala."
In past years, the event has been incredibly successful, with up to 90 jerky entries overall between the five categories; beef, lamb, goat, kangaroo and 'other'.
But Cr Fry said he was more than happy to rise up to the challenge, as long as he had a way to quench his hard earned thirst after a difficult day of judging.
"It's going to be a privilege and an honour to sit there and test the marvellous creations of locals, and tourists," he said.
"It's definitely a day of a lot of protein, washed down with some carbohydrates. It's a tough job but someone's gotta do it."
The jerky making competition is just one reason as to why Cr Fry believes Sofala to be the best place to be for Australia Day celebrations.
As well as the 'Jerk Off', the hotel also hosts live music, yabby races, a barbecue, and the classic community spirit one could expect from Australia's oldest surviving gold mining town.
But, with this community spirit, comes a hint of local rivalry.
With an anticipated 90 entries in the event that just keeps growing every year, being crowned the overall winner is a coveted title.
This year, event organiser Peter Gardiner is hoping he can take out the top spot, to break-even with his wife, who was, last year, named the winner in a blind tasting.
"There's a bit of rivalry there. She's not going to win this year, well, I hope not," he said.
With her mint lamb jerky, Sandra Gardiner took home the title of 'Jerk Off' champion, and also ended the day hundreds of dollars richer.
Winners of each category receive $150 each, with $100 awarded for second place, and $50 for third.
But, as well as the chance to snag some cold hard cash, Mr Gardiner said the day was the perfect opportunity for families to have fun and experience everything that Sofala has to offer.
