Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 130, No. 4 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - $1.
00
BRING ON
THE MEAT
Boss Hog Stale
Championship
Cook-off heats
1
1
A
WHO’LL BE THE BOSS?
Two Hundred Fifty Degrees - Midway, GA
Jus-Fer-Fun Cooking Crew - McDonough, GA
Bayou Barq - Norcross, GA
Butt Naked and Smokin - Appling, GA
Boro Boys - Waynesboro, GA
Chatham Artillery BBQ -Savannah, GA
Smoke-N-Joe’s - Evans, GA
Big “J” and The Butts - Waynesboro, GA
Wastin' Away BBQ - Waynesboro, GA
Lip Smackin’ Oinkers - Waynesboro, GA
Fat Head BBQ-Waynesboro, GA
Naked Bones - Lakeland, FL.
Catchafire for Q - Fort Mill, SC
Smokin' & Lovett - Evans, GA
Hampton Hog Heaters-Varnville, S.C.
Sweat’s Barbeque - Savannah, GA
Rescue Smokers - Sycamore, GA
Two Old Men and a Grill - Bessemer City, NC
Smokin the Good Stuff - Hephzibah, Ga.
Ultimate Tailgaters BBQ - Aiken, SC
Munchee's Smokehouse - Lake City, FL
Pickin’ Porkers - Clemmons, NC
Killer B’s - Evans, GA
Smoke This-Hickory, NC
Dat Texas Cookin - Evans, GA
Screamin Nite Hog BBQ-Winston-Salem, NC
Smoky Mountain Smokers - Sevierville, TN
Fat Boys BBQ - Waynesboro, GA
Big Dawg Daddy BBQ - Waynesboro, GA
Mobley’s Cafeteria - Waynesboro, GA
Kentucky Nuggits-Augusta, GA
Fatboyz Barbeque GA - Eatonton, GA.
Neckbones - Shelby, NC
Divine Smoke - Greenwood, SC
Bubba and the Smoking Pig - Waynesboro, GA
Team Bobby-Q -Atlanta, GA
By Elizabeth Billips
lizbillips@yahoo.com
M ore than 3,500
pounds of pork,
chicken and bris
ket will be grilled, prayed over
and judged in Waynesboro this
weekend.
All that cooking and eating
will take place at the fifth an
nual Boss Hog State Champi
onship Cook-off, which will
start smoking Friday, 5 p.m.,
at the Mr. Golf Carts Distribu
tion Center (old Perfection
building) and run right through
to 5 p.m. Saturday.
More than 80 pounds of that
meat will come from Shelby,
N.C. where longtime friends
Curtis Jarrell and Chuck Lutz
are preparing for their third
straight KCBS (Kansas City
Barbeque Society) sanctioned
competition in the ‘Boro.
They’ll pack it all onto their
two homemade direct heat
grills made from 280-gallon
barrels, then settle in for a night
and a day of slow cooking.
Their team, the
“Neckbones,” plans around six
cook-offs a year but Curtis, a
lineman for Duke Energy,
maintains that Boss Hog is on
the top of their list. “From the
beginning, ya’ll started putting
on a top-notch show,” he says.
D own south off 1-95,
Kregg Halbert is packing cool
ers for his third eight-hour trip
to Burke County from Lake
land, Fla. His team “Naked
Bones” is among the growing
pool of professional competi
tors who come a day early and
stay through Sunday, mostly to
pencil in "kick back time” be
fore and after the high pressure
competition.
“I just like to cook barbeque,
drink beer and hang out with
my buddies ... see some old
friends and meet some new
ones,” he says. "They treat us
good in Waynesboro, and that’s
what brings people back.”
With 10 years on the road
and a garage full of trophies,
Kregg competes in anywhere
from 12 to 20 competitions a
year using his two giant “Fast
Eddie” stoves that burn wood
pellets. Before and after
Saturday’s crunch time, he’ll
catch up and talk shop with
other teams, like “Jus-Fer-
Fun,” a husband/wife team
from McDonough who were
Boss Hog’s grand champions in
2008 and reserve champions
last year.
"iPoppa Sam” Grogan,
who does Jus-Fer-Fun’s cook
ing with his wife Diane, says
the world of competitive
barbeque has grown into some
thing close to a subculture over
the past couple of years, fueled
in part by Food Network shows
and reality barbeque series that
are introducing the sport to the
general public .
"The money is getting more
lucrative, and more people are
getting into it and doing it full
time,” he says “It’s still not a
spectator sport but it’s grow
ing.”
Scott Jarrett, a newbie to the
Boss Hog, can see the growth
too.
He and his three Hickory,
N.C. teammates on “Smoke
This” have been hitting the
KCBS circuit hard this year
and are coming straight off a
grand championship last week
end at the Hog Fest in
Eatonton, N.C.
"We’re still up there in
space,” he says, recalling their
elation over turning in first
place pork, brisket and chicken.
He learned about Boss Hog
from returning team "Two Old
Men and a Grill” and says this
weekend’s play-list is full of
real contenders. “Some of the
top teams will be there,” he
points out, listing off show
stealers like Chatham Artillery,
the Smoky Mountain Smokers
and the Pickin’ Porkers.
"There are no real strategies
for us,” Scott says, explaining
the four teammates will be re
sponsible for preparing one-
each of Saturday’s categories...
chicken, ribs, pork and brisket.
“We’re just going to try to
cook our best.”
He knows that their best
product will require a quality
piece of meat, hours of prepa
ration and precise temperatures
on timing on the grill. It also
requires a little luck in getting
the finished product to a table
of judges whose tastes for
sweet, spicy, sauced or un
sauced will match up with their
entries.
With 46 professional judges
arriving from all over the
southeast, each table of six will
sample blind entries from six
different teams for each cat
egory. Each judge will eat 24
servings of meat by the time
it’s over, and giving them what
they want is the key ... and
sometimes a game of chance.
1 he 36 teams will work
with a huge array of dry rubs
and sauces with “secret ingre
dients” ranging from Dr. Pep
per to grape jelly. The
Neckbones, for one, have a few
tricks up their sleeves. Besides
using sweet tea in their rib
preparation, they’ll bring
along a big bottle of “Chuck’s
sauce,” named for its creator
who is better known as
“Sleepy” in Waynesboro for his
propensity for lawn chair
snoozing.
“The sauce runs the gamut...
hot, vinegary, sweet,” Sleepy’s
teammate Curtis says. “Of
course Chuck never cooks any
thing without sugar. He even
puts it in his green beans.”
But most covert operations,
like theirs, are let out of the
bag for the mere asking.
“There are secrets... but no real
secrets,” Curtis maintains, not
ing that nearly everyone is
happy to share recipes and
demonstrate how they prep and
cook.”
And for most teams, that’s
what it’s all about. Though the
competition is serious, the ban
ter is friendly and the good will
is as thick as the wood smoke.
“Always go planning to win
... but don’t always think you’re
gonna win,” Poppa Sam says,
sharing his recipe for a good
weekend. “Stay on your game,
have fun, work hard... and hope
for good judges.”
MORE THAN MEAT!
A lot more is cooking, includ
ing live music, free wings, Queen
of the Wing reverse beauty pag
eant, a People's Choice compe
tition, and cow milking and hot dog
eating contests. The kids will have
lots to do like rock wall climbing,
bungee jumping and cricket spit
ting and greased pig contests. For
a full schedule and ticket pricing,
visit www.bosshogcookoff.com.
Area unions
inundated
with calls
By Anne Marie Kyzer
annemariek@thetruecitizen.com
Agree to build it, and they will come.
Job seekers have bombarded local trade unions with interest
since a labor agreement was signed for building new reactors
at Plant Vogtle.
The Building and Construction Trades Department announced
on April 15 that trade unions will
supply labor during the construction
UNION INFO of the additional two units at Plant
For more information Vogtle.
on local trade unions or Since then, Augusta Building and
training, contact the Au- Construction Trades Council presi-
gusta Building and Con- dent Kenneth Ward said he’s re-
struction Trades Coun- ceived hundreds of phone calls,
oil at 706-722-6357. He said the calls have been from a
mix of newcomers and people who
have worked in a trade before. Oth
ers were interested in clerical positions. Ward said his organi
zation is directing callers to the various local unions, depend
ing on what trade they are interested in. Those seeking clerical
work are encouraged to contact the project’s contractor, The
Shaw Group.
Not all the unions are taking applications at this point, be
cause they are driven by need in the local industry. However,
Ward said those interested should not be discouraged.
The Plant Vogtle project will eventually require around 3,500
workers at its peak. Though construction is not expected to
reach that level until the 2011-2013 timeframe, local unions
will ramp up their application numbers as that time draws near.
“We want to put as many people in this area to work as
possible,” he said.
TRAINING FOR NUCLEAR CAREERS
A new program at Augusta Technical College aims to help stu
dents take advantage of career opportunities in the nuclear power
industry. The nuclear engineering technology associates degree is
a two-year program that prepares graduates for permanent posi
tions in nuclear maintenance and more. According to ATC president
Terry Elam, Southern Company, which operates Plant Vogtle, and
others in the industry have given full support of the program, which
is based on curriculum used nationally in the nuclear industry.
An information session will be held noon-6 p.m., Thursday, May 6
in the auditorium of the college’s Waynesboro campus. To learn
more, call 706-771-4000 or visit www.augustatech.edu.
Stone seeks
Senate seat
Jesse Stone
By Anne Marie Kyzer
annemariek@thetruecitizen.com
Burke County’s representative in the State Senate could be
a local for the first time in decades.
Waynesboro attorney Jesse Stone III qualified last week to
run for the District 23 seat currently held by J.B. Powell -
and he could run unopposed.
Although Democrat Baxter "Leon” Garvin
also qualified, he withdrew after his residency
in the district was questioned.
The Secretary of State’s office had not re
ceived his official letter of withdrawal as of
Tuesday afternoon, but Garvin said he has
made his decision.
“I’m not one-hundred percent convinced
that I don’t live in the district. The line runs
right behind my house,” he said. "But I’m
not going to challenge and distract from the election.”
According to Matt Carrothers of the Secretary of State’s
office, an independent candidate could still qualify to run
against Stone. Independents are not required to file a notice
of candidacy until July 2. The candidate must then submit a
nomination petition by July 13.
Powell had also qualified to run for re-election in the Sen
ate, but switched his candidacy to the Commissioner of Ag
riculture race shortly after. Powell, of Blythe, will face ei
ther Gary Black or Darwin Carter from the Republican Party.
Stone said he was approached by the Republican Party
about running and considered it because Burke County has
not had a local State Senator since Preston Lewis was in
office in the 1970s.
“It’s something that I’d
thought about,” he said, noting
that Burke County had a lot in
- See Qualifying, page 9 7 ■ ■l"812 2 *04 4 20 7
Barbecue with the Boss
this Friday & Saturday!
This femmunlty service message provided by:
706-554-2114
wwwLmlielMord.com