Dixie Bones Catering Feeds 2,200 Traveling Students, Teachers & Police Escorts

The Client

Dixie Bones BBQ is not just known for their legendary flavor profiles, but for efficiently managing large-scale, high-volume catering events. For this event, the team at Dixie Bones BBQ provided more than just BBQ; they provided a seamless, stress-free catered meal for a large group traveling through Virginia, approximately 2,200 middle school students, teachers, police escorts, and AAA sponsors.  

Location of Event

The operation took place at two critical transit hubs along the I-81 corridor: the Ironto Rest Stop south of Roanoke, VA, and the Fairfield Rest Stop north of Lexington, VA.

Description of Event

The challenge was as immense as the collective appetite of the 2,200 middle school students, teachers, police escorts, and AAA sponsors traveling through Virginia, requiring coordination  across 42 motor coaches. For the group’s trip north, our kitchen prepared thousands of ham sandwiches, potato chips, and granola bars. For the return trip south, they transitioned to turkey sandwiches. The key to the operation was the numbering system; every meal box was meticulously tagged to correspond with a specific bus number.

Our team arrived at the rest stops an hour before the caravans, transforming public space into an efficient, organized distribution center. By staging the provisions in numerical order, they turned what could have been chaotic into a calm, orderly process. Adults were able to retrieve the correct supplies for their specific bus effortlessly, allowing them to focus on the students rather than the logistics of lunch.

Delivering high-quality, consistent catered meals at this scale is a hallmark of Dixie Bones BBQ’s commitment to excellence, proving that even the most complex logistics can be solved with detailed and meticulous planning. 

Contact Dixie Bones today to see how we can handle the logistics for your next major event.