The 31st annual Buckholts Cotton Festival and BBQ Cookoff is in the history books. Despite August temperatures in June, people came from far and wide to participate in the activities or just hang around for the parade and the music.
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| Big hats were the order of the day to fight the sun and heat. |
The annual parade kicked off under the command of Master of Ceremonies Richard Crowe. A large crowd lined Main St. to watch floats, hot rods, antique cars and scramble for candy.
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| Buckholts High School's newly formed National Honor Society students on their float. |
The Buckholts Lions Club offered breakfast tacos and ice cream and other street vendors offered food, refreshments, plants and other wares.
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| What could go better together than a new T-shirt and an air freshener in sweltering heat. |
While friends and family indulged in good food and goods, the competition cooks were hard at work.
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Displaying his 1st place plaque in the rib category from the 11th Cotton Festival Cook-off, a former champion returns to Buckholts after a long hiatus.
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Aside from many chefs dreams of beating John Anderle and visiting with new and old friends, there were activities such as a cake walk, ring toss, and sports competitions in washers, horse shoes, volleyball and softball.
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| Something tells me this guy was not referring to a turkey leg when he yelled, "Eat this!". |
If you have a cook-off, you have to have judges. And the Quad City-CTBA sanctioned event brought in local judges and judges from afar.
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| Jane Ann Temple drove all the way from San Antonio to be a judge in the rib category. |
Despite the fact they could have grilled their entrees on the sidewalk or the pavement, all the competition cooks deferred to their pits and wood fires. And, pit cooking paid off, literally, for many of the chefs.
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The Overall Grand
Champion Team of the CTBA Quad City sanctioned BBQ Cook-off
at the 31st
Buckholts Cotton Festival was “2 Old Farts & A Hog”. (L-R) Jerry Kopriba,
Justin Shirley, Festival Ramrod Patsy Gaines, and Tim Gresham.
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