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SMOKE BITS The official publication of the
Florida Bar-B-Que Association
April 2019 4:4
10 years ago the Suncoast Foundation for handi-
capped children made a decision that a BBQ festival was
a way to support their goals. The 10th annual Suncoast
BBQ and Bluegrass Festival is still going strong.
The festivities actually began on Thursday at the Fox
Lea Farm. It has become a tradition to have the annual
Hamburger cook off pairing competing teams with chal-
lenged people to see who makes the best hamburger.
Swamp Boys, Sweet Smoke Q, Gitchchewsum
BBQ, Backyard Bros and Big Papa’s Country
Kitchen and their assigned ‘head cooks’ were among
the players.
Although the venue changed, the fun is just beginning,
In the end it was Swamp Boys, Rub Bagby and Lucas
who took home the trophy for first place. All Smiles it
certainly looks like everyone had a good time.
10th Annual Suncoast BBQ and Bluegrass Festival
Florida State Championship
March 29-30 2019, Venice, FL
Newspaper clipping from
the first ever Suncoast BBQ
and Bluegrass Festival.
Although most of the cook
teams have changed the
goals of this BBQ contest
have remained the same.
Venice continued on page 3
2
Florida Bar-B-Que Association
Board of Directors
President
Ben Purvis
Vice President
Ed Shemanski
Treasurer
Shelby Lomen
Secretary
Connie Washam
Director
Matt Barber
Director
Lou Goldman
Director
Steve Brumm
March has come and gone and the days are heating up here in Florida. While the contest sched-ule is slowing down, there are still some great op-portunities to get out and test your skills. This month we have Smoke on the Water in Ft. Myers followed up by Skinny’s BBQ Throwdown at the Moose Lodge on Merritt Island .
Ft. Myers is a great contest in south west Florida with every cook site directly on the water. They have plenty of great bands per-forming during the day and lots of clubs within walking distance. Then there is Skinny’s. This contest is a one of a kind event. It has everything you would expect at a regular competition plus a people’s choice, mystery meat category, local bands, and maybe a few adult beverages will be consumed. Whether you are cooking, judging, or just looking for a great time. Get out and visit these events. Lee Thompson and Amanda Podlucky from Pig-Chicka-Cow-Cow have been dominating the competition scene lately with 4 back to back Grand Champions. They are starting to separate from the rest of the pack for Team of the Year points but it’s still early and as we have seen before if someone gets hot they can cut into that lead quickly. Finally keep your eyes on the schedule on our FBA web page and our Facebook page. We have had a lot of potential comps con-tacting us lately. We have also had a few comps adding to their event. Davenport is now adding a Backyard and the others are new events that we hope to be able to sanction soon. So, until next month…
Surround yourself with good friends and great BBQ. Ben Purvis FBA President
President’s Message
After many years, Ford Allison
lost his fight with Cancer this past March,
2019. Ford cooked with his wife Carolyn
and was the pitmaster of Great Lakes
BBQ & Feed. In spite of his illness, he
followed FBA via the FB Members Only
page and contributed frequently. He
loved BBQ and went to the Polk City BBQ
Company as often as he could. Ford
really enjoyed the seemingly disastrous Bucs posts when Tim at-
tended their games. You are missed by many, old timers and new
comers. Please keep his family in your prayers. RIP Ford.
3
The Suncoast BBQ and Blues is
this year’s Florida State Champi-
onship. They have the highest payout of all FBA compe-
titions this year and in addition with the new points
count combined with the double points for participating
in a state championship...things are heating up, the race
is on!
In addition to many Blue Grass bands there were vend-
ers of all kinds of good eats as well as BBQ. Hundreds of
people came out and supported the 10th Annual Sun-
coast BBQ and Blues. Jim Frazee said it took him 40
minutes to get out of the parking lot.
With 38 teams
competing it was a
tough field out there. As you know all the scores and de-
tails are on the FBA website but here are the top dogs.
Congratulations to Pig-Chicka-Cow-Cow who won the
Grand Championship and to Hot Wachulas who took
home the reserve Grand. Time to take a breath until our
next contest, Smoke on the water BBQ Competition &
Music in Fort Meyers, FL April 26 & 27, 2019
While Tim Maloy and Daniel Tomlinson en-
joy the Friday night party, Rub Bagby is up
early to get his vend on. Later, he will be
governed by the competition time line.
TIME LINE!
There were many
happy judges soaking
up the beautiful day
and delicious BBQ
1. Gayle Dimaggio
with Yvonne Tay-
lor and George
Kendall
2. Ron & Diane Le-
rigo with Craig
Kinsman and
Gayle & Rick Di-
maggio
3. Van Scott with
Keith Harris,
Richard Clark
and Neil Bass
4. Matt Mahoney &
Karen Hyde with
Mary & Paul
Chapman
1 2
4
1
3
Hughes Brothers BBQ, Chad and Tim
Hughes finally received their Perfect Score
in pork they earned in at the Suncoast
BBQ and Bluegrass Festival last year.
4
Our BBQ and cooking adventures have taken
us to some awesome places and we have made and met
some cool friends along the way. Some of the best
times have been loading up
some rubs and sauces in a
suitcase and jumping on a
plane and going someplace
new. This adventure took
me to an SCA contest in
Shawnee, Oklahoma and it
truly was an adventure. We
hooked up with the contest
organizer and told him we
were coming to join his con-
test. They ended up having
contestants from 9 or 10 dif-
ferent states! Jason Boyce
put on the contest and has a
fantastic facility and lives in
a beautiful part of our country. David Qualls called me
and said he would loan me anything I needed and
hooked me up with grills, tables, charcoal and any-
thing I needed.
I have always heard that folks from Oklahoma
were friendly and I can verify that. I got off the plane
and was greeted by a local airport employee that
pointed me in the right direction. I picked up my lug-
gage and got on the shuttle to the rental car location
and immediately made friends with the lady bus
driver. She asked me why in the world I was wearing
shorts in Oklahoma and I told her that’s what us Flor-
ida boys do. We had to wait on a few other people and
she opened the door to her bus and fed every bird that
wanted some dinner. Leaving the door open made me
realize I was going to have to get some long pants! This
nice lady told me where to eat and to stay out of the
casinos!
I made the drive to Shawnee and found my mo-
tel and drove to the Fire Lake arena where the contest
was being held and enjoyed seeing this area. Fire Lake
Arena has the Fire Lake gun range, Fire Lake grocer-
ies, and an old little Fire Lake casino which my little
bus driver lady told me to stay out of. It was an old
casino but I was lucky and walked out with more then
I went in with!
There was a craft show going on in the arena
and I got to meet the Cowgirl and the Gypsy, a local
vendor selling western clothes and jewelry and was
amazed at how friendly and fun to talk to these Okla-
homa folks are. I met the Kettle
corn guy who had the best cara-
mel corn I had ever eaten. The
donut guy had his family working
with him and us steak cooking
guys ate our weight in fresh
cooked donuts!
I cooked next to 3 guys
who made a 14 hour drive from
Arizona and these guys were fun.
We laughed and told cooking sto-
ries and they shared their pro-
pane heater with me. I met a lo-
cal couple with a team called
Twisted Oliver and they told me
local stories and were awesome people to talk to. They
also had a heater to share and this Florida boy had an
easy time with the 20 degree weather as long as I
stayed out of the wind. Have you ever heard of a wind
chill factor? It’s for real! David Qualls is a long time
BBQ guy and we had met a long time ago in Laughlin,
Nevada and I can’t thank him enough for his help.
When I opened my suitcase I had an interest-
ing discovery. TSA had done a thorough search of my
stuff and left notes saying they kept a few items. You
cannot check Pam spray or Tumbleweed fire starters.
The interesting thing about their search was the way
they repacked all my belongings. I had brought a
handful of Zip-Lock bags and basically just stuffed eve-
rything in my suitcase. Someone Zip-Locked all my
belongings and organized my suitcase professionally!
It was perfectly packed and I had to show everyone
around me!
I did learn one valuable lesson cooking in 20
degree weather. The Fire lake arena is a beautiful first
class facility so I took my steaks in the men’s room to
wash and prep out of the cold. When you set your
pans on the counter, stay away from the automatic
soap dispensers. I heard a funny electronic noise and
by the time I figured out what it was I had quite a pan
full of soap! I am sure I had the cleanest steaks at the
contest!
PROUD TO MEET SOME OKIES
Dana “Big Papa” Hillis
Big Papa’s Country Kitchen
Oakies continued on page 7
5
There should be no questions as to why the Florida
Competition BBQ teams do as well as they do. The first week-
end in March Was a cooking school marathon. Swamp Boy’s
Q School, Jack’s Old South Cooking School and the new kid
on the cooking school block, Backyard Bro’s/Skinny’s Com-
petition BBQ Class.
This was the inaugural BBQ class for Backyard Bros &
Skinny’s. It was held at Fred & Patti Distasio’s backyard/
resort. As expected Saturday evening held an epic party.
“everyone survived, but there were a few walking wounded”
However, when it came to the class, it was all business just
like prepping boxes for a real turn-in.
Interesting twist, Skinny’s and BY Bros each prepared a box of
chicken, Ribs, Pork and Brisket. This meant the judges had
two different boxes to judge in each category, one prepared
KCBS style and the other FBA style. This obviously presents a
little friendly competition between the instructors.
A little side action was with Brian Coleman giving a competi-
tion steak prep class for those interested. Tim Maloy com-
mented, “Brian Coleman that was one hell of a steak class. I had no
idea the amount of work that goes into award winning steaks.”
I guess the bottom line here is if you are a new or experienced
cook team, unsatisfied with your results, seriously consider
making the investment of taking a BBQ cooking class. You
may have the best rub or sauce, but if you have trouble translat-
ing it into your competition turn-in box, a cooking school
might be just be the ticket you need to push your team into the
money.
Best of luck to those who attended the first Backyard Bro’s/
Skinny’s Competition BBQ Class!
In no particular order: Josh Carter, Carter Q; Brian Coleman, Belly Up
BBQ; Buck Freeman, Team Uncle Buck; Brad Fries, Accutech; Shawn
Hylton, Street Meat/Smoke Show; Brad Kay, Hawg Wash BBQ; Mike
King, Triple Cross BBQ & Steak; Tillman Lee Nelson III, Tillman’s
BBQ; Jack Peacock, Backman BBQ; Andrew Sutt, Swamp Crackers
BBQ; Daniel Tomlinson & Samantha Summerlin, Cooter’s n Smoke;
Keith Utt, Nice Racks; Gilbert Victorino, Booby Q; Chris Warren, Going
Yard; John Williams, John’s Real South BBQ; Jo-Ann Wilson, 4
Smokin’ Queens; Mark Zondervan, Boog a Lou Smoke Crew; Not pic-
tured: John Courtney and Rick Woodling, Fantasy Q
Instructors: Fred Distasio, Tim Maloy, Mike Jones
Much appreciated Judges L-R: Bob Williams, *Fred & Patti Distasio,
*Mike & Monica Jones, Kevin Sandridge, FBA VP, Ed Shemanski,
Kenny Shiflett, Biggi & Doug Francis, *Tim & Patti Maloy
*Class Leaders
The Trifecta of BBQ Cooking Schools
6
At the Eastpoint, FL Fire Department Charity Rib Cook-
off, on 3/16/2019, FBA members Richard Wade, Pogy
Road Q, took 2nd place and John Solomon, 10-4 BBQ
came in 3rd as well as 1st place People’s Choice.
Although unsanctioned, it was still fun and noteworthy.
3/16/2019, the KCBS sanctioned Smokin’ in the
Square, held in Pensacola, FL, Jim Elser, Sweet
Smoke Q took 2nd in ribs for an FBA best, 4th
place over all.
Lee Thompson & Amanda Podlucky, Pig-Chicka-
Cow-Cow placed 2nd in Chicken for a 7th place
over all.
Travis Millender and Mark Zondervan, Boog-a-
Lou Smoke Crew took 2nd in Pork.
Congratulations to FBA member Cary
Chastain, Hold Your Horses BBQ
who took the Grand Champion at the
GBA sanctioned Fire Ant Festival and
BBQ Bash held 3/24/2019, in Ashburn,
GA. Other FBA players…
Loin: 10th, Captain Jack’s BBQ Crew
Pork: 3rd, Captain Jack’s BBQ Crew;
4th, Hold Your Horses BBQ
Ribs: 1st, Hold Your Horses BBQ;
4th, Smoke Show
2/27/2019 at the GBA sanctioned Dilly Dally in Dooley
County, GA, The following FBA members placed.
Loin: Smoke Show 3rd
Pork Ribs: 3rd place, Daryl Strickland, Lang Smok-
ers; 6th place, Sandy Autry, Hootie Q
Brisket Ancillary: Joseph Puccio, Smoke Show took
1st place
Great Big Congratulations to Daryl Strickland &
Samantha, Lang Smokers who got married in front of
their BBQ family at the Dilly Dally in Dooley.
FBA’s
Finest
Florida Bar B Que Association may be the
best, but we are far from the only
Congratulations to All FBA Member Teams no
matter where they compete!
7
Welcome to the Florida BBQ Assoc.
New FBA Members:
Family
Buddy & Kimberly Rudolph, Tampa, FL
Chris & Teri Batchelor, Saint Johns, FL
Individual:
James Carlin, Miami, FL
Jerrod Richard, Jacksonville, FL
Daniel Shivers, Deland, FL
John Humphreys, Crestview, FL
Gary Baker, Cape Coral, FL
James Golden, Kissimmee, FL
Smoke Bits, 2019, Contributors:
Rub Bagby (Weber collection) Dana Hillis (4), Curtis
Kelly, Mike King, Chuck Dolan, David Haskett, Angela
Iversen, Tim Giebeig, Jim Frazee, Ed Shemanski, Katie
Nelson, Amanda Podlucky, Regina Campbell, Audrey Ev-
ans Campbell (BBQ Times), John Solomon,
Many thanks for your contributions of photographs, reci-
pes, funnies, good catches and articles in 2018.
The first contest turned in at 1:00 and at
1:30 they posted the teams that did not make the
top 15 and that is a big disappointment to make
that list. The 3 guys next to me all made the top 15
but had changed all their recipes because they did
not like their first cook! The second round turned
in at 3:00 and awards were at 5:00. We ended up
15th in the second round which paid $100 so we did
go home with some cash! You ever get a chance to
do a Fire Lake cook off you will enjoy every minute.
Great facility, great state and truly nice people.
When I got up Sunday to go home I figured
out why there was an ice scraper in the door. There
was an inch of snow on the ground and my car was
thick with ice. Driving was fun and I only slid a
couple times! I got to see my shuttle driver again
on the ride back and she said she
was coming to Naples, Florida to
have some BBQ. Shawnee, Okla-
homa was a great trip and I will be
back one day.
See everyone at a contest soon!
Dana
Okies continued from page 4
3/9/2019, at the Swing into Spring SCA Steak
Cook-off in Brooksville, FL, The following FBA mem-
bers placed in the top 10:
2nd place, Josh Carter; 3rd place, Lee Thompson;
4th place, Vic Vierbickas; 5th place, Brian Cole-
man; 6th place, Dana Coleman; 9th place, John
Pendray; 10th place, Diana Carter.
Ancillary, SPAM: In the money: 1st Place Greg Wat-
kins; 2nd place Sarah Watkins; 3rd place Josh
Carter; Brian Coleman, 4th; Joshua Gimeson,
5th; Tona Pendray 6th, 7th & 8th; Dara Coleman
9th; Brad Fries 1oth
3/22/2019, at the 2nd annual So. Georgia
Banking Company, Fire Ant Steak Cook-off in
Ashburn, GA , the following FBA members placed:
Josh Carter, 5th and Brian Coleman, 10th.
Congratulations to all who participated!
On the SCA Front...
Sunday Tuesday Thursday Friday Saturday
April 2019
* Non Sanctioned
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6
7
8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19
Good
Friday
20
22 23 24
Pigs in a
Blanket
Day
25 26 27
28 29 30 Be sure to check with the FBA website for full details.
All sanctioned contests, with a minimum of 25 teams, are qualifiers
for the World Food Championships, Jack Daniel’s Invitational and
the American Royal.
National Pie Championships
Orlando, FL
The Renaissance Orlando
Near Sea World
Smoke on the Water
Fort Meyers, FL
21
Easter
April Showers
National
Pretzel Day
National
Beer Day