Italy Lions Club’s 2nd annual BBQ Cook-off was a tasty success!
Three cheers for the Italy Lions Club!!! — Flossie Gowin, Kristi Souder and Meg Lyons are proud of the Italy Lions Club for having a successful 2nd annual BBQ Cook-off. (Barry Byers)
The Italy Lions Club held their 2nd annual BBQ Cook-off on Saturday, April 17th at the Upchurch baseball fields in Italy. Sponsored by the Lone Star BBQ Society, individuals and teams competed for fun and prizes all in support of the Italy Lions Club.
The aroma of barbecued brisket, chicken, pork spare ribs and pork butt filled the air as cookers setup camp on Friday night in preparation for the judging on Saturday. Also, flavorful bean dishes were entered in the competition with “Darla Wood’s Noise Makers” taking 1st place.
Italy Lions Club president, Arval Gowin, was busy man on Saturday. Sacrificing himself as a judge when needed, organizing the awards and constantly checking in on the cooks to ensure everyone was comfortable and having a grand time in Italy.
Shawn Roberts served as auctioneer helping to sell donated items, announce raffle winners and call out the BBQ cook-off award winners.
Lunch was served from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at $8.00 a plate which included a side of beans and potato salad. The judging began around 10:00 a.m. and the awards were passed just before 5:00 p.m. Below are the results from the judging:
Cooking results:
| Name | Ind/Group Name | Italy Res. | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carter, Rick | Smokin’ Firehouse BBQ | No | |
| Corwin, John | Swine and Bovine | No | |
| Day, Peyton | The Convicts | Yes | |
| Escamilla, Jake | Cactus Rose Cooking Team | Yes | |
| Graves, Roger | Cooking Cowtown Way | No | |
| Hobbs, James | Hobbs Feed Supply | Yes | 2nd |
| Jaska, Joe | Smokin’ Joe | No | Grand Champion, 1st-Chicken |
| Jaska, Joey | Burn’em and Turn’em | No | |
| Morgan, Brian | Ain’t Got a Clue BBQ | Yes | 2nd-Pork Butt |
| Moritz, Rick | A-Team | No | 3rd-Pork Butt |
| Mrozinski, Ben | B.A.M.F. Beans | No | |
| Mrozinski, Donnie | Partiot 29 | No | |
| Riley, Kevin | Circle R Cookers | No | |
| Shrauner, Roger | Just Smokin’ | No | |
| Smith, Daniel | Redneck Cooking | No | |
| Waldo, Gary | Waldo’s Smokehouse | No | |
| Watson, Denise | Watson Family Cookers | No | |
| Williams, Billy | Joe B&M BBQ | No | 2nd-PSRibs |
| Williams, Royce | King Fisher Kookers | No | 2nd-Brisket, 3rd-PSRibs |
| Wood, Gary | IYAA | Yes | 1st-Beans, Brisket |
| Strauch, Ross | No | Reserve Champion,1st-PSRibs, 3rd-Chicken, Brisket | |
| Strauch, Kirk | No | 1st-Pork Butt, 2nd-Chicken |
Italy ranking:
- 1st place: Peyton Day, The Convicts
- 2nd place: James Hobbs, Hobbs Feed & Supply
- 3rd place: Gary Wood, IYAA
- 4th place: Jake Escamilla, Cactus Rose Cooking Team
In addition to ribbons and trophies, money prizes were awarded as well:
- 1st place Beans: $120.00
- 1st place all categories: $124.00
- 2nd place all categories: $74.00
- 3rd place all categories: $50.00
Raffle prize results:
- Lion Don Johnson – 42" Television
- Jay Hugley – GPS
- Austin Cate (3.5 years old) – Laptop
- Will Lyons – Honey-do
- Jake Escamilla and Paul Saxon – Dirt
- Rich Mortiz – Movie Basket
- Gary Wood – Spice rubs (2 baskets) and Smoke Chips
- Roger Graves – Garden Basket
- Arval Gowin – Bird Houses
“I want to thank the Lone Star BBQ Society for all their support. I would also like to thank Kristi Souder, Meg Lyons and my lovely wife, Flossie, for all their hard work in the concession stand,” mentioned Arval Gowin.
Gowin went on to say, “Also, I would to thank Melissa Souder and her daughter Taylor for helping to pass out the ribbons and trophies, Gary Escamilla and Shawn Roberts for helping with the auctioned items and all the judges and volunteers that helped make our 2nd annual cook-off a success.”
The team name Patriot 29 is in memory of fallen soldier Ryan Patrick Green. The Patriot 29 Troop Support Fund is a 501©(3) non-profit corporation. Visit the Patriot 29 website and Email:[email protected] to get involved.