1st Annual Castle Hayne Pig Cookoff Hawg Crawl, Castle Hayne  May 11-12, 2007

Castle Hayne is a small non-incorporated community in north New Hanover County on the northeast Cape Fear River, 8 miles north of Wilmington.

The Castle Hayne Steering Committee had been looking for a fund raising event for some time, but after a member of the committee attended a cook off in Newport, the committee decided it would be a large but worthwhile undertaking to have a pig cook off for a fundraising event. The committee is a community civic organization whose duties are to promote orderly development, help in preserving the woodlands, waterways and farmlands and to enhance the quality of life for the Castle Hayne community.

Immediately the Castle Hayne Hawg Crawl Committee was created as a nonprofit corporation to host the event. Proceeds from the event went to the Coastal Therapeutic Riding Program (provides physical, emotional and social enrichment to children and adults with special needs), the Castle Hayne Steering Committee, the Yahweh Center (a residential treatment program for abused and neglected children) and a scholarship fund for their 1st ever Miss Castle Hayne.

For entertainment there were bluegrass bands, dance groups, a wrestling match, car show, monster trucks, pony rides and a petting zoo.

30 teams competed in the North Carolina Pork Council sanctioned cook off with the following results: (1) Michael Shane Hemenway, Newport, NC (2) Joe Peterson, Roanoke Rapids, NC (3) Brooke Sanford, Newport, NC (4) Thomas Lindsay, Rocky Point, NC (5) Charles Chestnut, Murfreesboro, NC (6) Roy L. Parker, Zebulon, NC (7) Floyd Knowles, Castle Hayne, NC (8) Ernest Puskas, Castle Hayne, NC (9) Luke Blanton, Rocky Point, NC and (10) Jamie Smith, Castle Hayne, NC.