Last Saturday I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the organizers for the 2010 Lakeland Pig Festival, as well as members from a few local BBQ Cook Teams to talk about the coming 2010 Pig Fest Event and what it has meant as far as putting Lakeland, Florida on the BBQ Map.
Nick Nicholas and Kerrie Hall, from the Lakeland Pig Fest Organizing Committee were great. They explained a lot about how much the event, especially the Backyard BBQ portion, means locally in terms of bringing BBQ lovers and local cooks together to share the love of BBQ. As a testament to the national draw of the Lakeland Pig Festival, Mr. Ray Lampe – known to many as Dr. BBQ – was also in attendance. He’s been involved with the Pig Festival from the start, and is a valued and greatly appreciated local BBQ resource. (By the way, check out Dr. BBQ’s videos over at Firecooker.com, and add some of your own there, too!)
The local teams in attendance were Whiskey Bent BBQ from Lakeland and Team Unknown BBQ from Winter Haven. Each of these award-winning teams always provide a lot of great information and personality to any meet up, and if you make it to the Pig Festival, you should definitely check them out.
2010 Lakeland Pig Festival Promo with Nick Nicholas and Kerrie Hall
Check out this video to learn a bit more about the Lakeland Pig Festival, its history, its charitable side, and the great things you can look forward to this January!
Lakeland Pig Festival will be held on January 29 and 30, 2010. To download applications, rules and event schedules click here. For more information contact pigfest@jlgl.org.
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Was afforded the pleasure of talking with Chad Ward, Jared Hatcher, and the rest of the Lakeland, Florida Whiskey Bent BBQ team at the Bartow Bluegrass and Barbecue Festival yesterday as they prepared to enter their chicken, brisket, ribs, and pork entries up for judging today.
Whiskey Bent BBQ Steps it Up Big Time
Talking with Chad is, I’m gathering, always an informative, interesting, and insightful experience. I mean, this guy knows ‘cue.
What was even more interesting is that these guys made the unanticipated choice to step things up from the backyard to the Pro division yesterday in order to make sure the competition fielded the requisite 25 pro teams to rate as a Jack Daniel’s qualifier.
Folks, I know a whole lot of folks from the south – but these guys know and have shown with this move – what it means to be true and honorable southerners. Put simply, they saw there was a chance that folks coming in from around the country for this Jack Daniel’s qualifying event may be shut out with a field that failed to “make,” and they threw their hat in the ring for Pro division competition.
And make no mistake – with Rob “Rub” Bagby from Swamp Boys BBQ in the running – this Bartow BBQ Cook-off event ain’t gonna be no cakewalk!
I just talked with Chad, and he said they feel good about what they turned in today. I’ll add their results today to this post as I get them in. So, stay tuned.
The Results from Bartow are In…
Just got the call from Chad Ward, and Whiskey Bent BBQ did pretty well overall today. Their results for the 2009 Bartow Bluegrass and Barbecue Festival – Pro Division today with a total score of 735 were as follows:
- 5th in Chicken
- 6th in Briskey
- 11th in Ribs
- 11th in Pork
- 5th Overall
This last stat is the one I’m most proud of these guys for. They manned up, jumped into the Pro arena, and were one away from walking today.
Nice job guys.
Remember – if you need Award Winning BBQ and Catering in the Lakeland area, give Whiskey Bent BBQ a call. You can reach Chad Ward directly at (863) 660-0618 or Jared Hatcher at (863) 409-2178.
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