Winners take home watermelons and prize money for best barbecue

[August 27, 2012]  The second annual "Up in Smoke on the Square" had a whopping 43 teams competing for top barbecue honors on Saturday. That is a great turnout for a second-year competition. Kevin Bateman, one of the local organizers of the Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned competition, said the Lincoln event garnered respect from the society in its first year for how well it was run.

Participants traveled from far and wide, with teams coming from the St. Louis area, and of course local teams here, to cook up their best barbecue.

Husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, families and friends -- friendly competitors -- spent the weekend camped in trailers around the Logan County Courthouse square in Lincoln. The atmosphere of the competition camps was joyful, and visitors were welcome to stop by to inhale the delicious aromas.

While competitors are not allowed to sell their wares, to assuage hungers and prevent possible rioting or plundering, vendors are brought in who can sell their barbecue, and that keeps everyone happy.

A dining tent was set up on the courthouse lawn so that meals could be enjoyed in the shade.

During most of their time, competitors were joking and enjoying the laid-back atmosphere of the competition. But, when the judging began to take place, things got serious. Teams offered their best barbecue recipes to the Kansas City Barbeque Society-certified judges every half-hour, one category at a time, beginning at noon on Saturday.

Four categories are judged: chicken, pork ribs, pork and beef brisket. The first-place winners in each category won $500 and a handcrafted watermelon trophy. The reserve grand champion received a Lincoln bust trophy and $1,500. The grand champion received a large handcrafted watermelon trophy and $3,000.

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Official results:

Chicken, sponsored by the Sheley Group:

1. McFrankenboo BBQ

2. Whitey BBQ (first-time competitor)

3. Chili Rotor Smokers

Pork Ribs, sponsored by Nikles Motor Inc.:

1. Shake n Bake BBQ

2. Quau

3. Whiteys BBQ

Pork, sponsored by Stuffed-Aria:

• McFrankenboo BBQ

• Lion Bout the Q

• Gilly's BBC

Beef Brisket, sponsored by Croft Fertilizer Inc.:

• Gilly's BBQ

• B and B BBQ and Catering LLC

• A Boy and His BBQ

Reserve grand champion, sponsored by Lincoln IGA and Graue Inc.:

• Gilly's BBQ

Grand champion, sponsored by Lincoln IGA and Graue Inc.:

• B and B BBQ and Catering

Event director Chris Graue gave lots of credit to the sponsors -- State Bank of Lincoln, Sheley Trucking, Nikles Motor Inc., Stuffed-Aria, Croft Fertilizer, Lincoln IGA and Graue Inc. -- for the $15,000 of prize money for the winners.

The event got its start through years of casual conversations and a discovery of kinship over favorite barbecue recipes. Those same friends who made up the committee last year continued to meet once a month all this year, and more often as the event grew closer: Jim Bishop, Tub Baker, Todd Courtwright, Rick Janssen, Steve Montgomery, Chad Batson, Frank Bramwell, Kevin Bateman, Chris Graue, Larry Ingram and Mark Schoonover.

There is heavy involvement from committee members during the event as well. They set up booths, electrical equipment and run errands throughout the competition.

To raise money for next year's "Up in Smoke" competition, raffle tickets were available. The items that were raffled were packs of Tupperware donated by Darlene Begolka, a set of Cutco knives donated by Cutco and a pallet of charcoal donated by Croft Fertilizer. "Up in Smoke" T-shirts were also available for purchase along with "Up in Smoke" tumblers.

[By HANNAH MICHALSEN; LDN]