By Vail Stewart Rumley
Washington Daily News
Washington, NC – North Carolina got a new state barbecue champion at Smoke at the Water.
Late Night Porkin’ charcoal/wood competition barbecue team, headed by Phillips Weeks of Clayton, took top honors in the weekend festival. Second place went to Carolina Caviar team, headed by Lee Meeks of Newport; third place award winners were the Thunder Swamp Cookers, led by Craig Harrell of Burlington; and rounding out the competition with a fourth-place finish was the Ring of Fire team, under Colby Murphy of LaGrange.
In the gas-cooking competition, Bruce Daniel of Roanoke Rapids, and his Big Bad Wolf team were handed the first-place trophy. Second place finisher went to the Lazy Days team, headed by David Grandy of Morehead City; third place honors went to Charlie Meeks of Newport, and his team, Capt. Charlie’s Cooks; and fourth-place winner was team Grillin’ Palms, headed by David Hoffman of Kinston.
Winner of the showmanship competition – in which each barbecue contestant decorates their cook tent – was Wesley Bowers of Washington.
The chili competition had 21 entrants. Tony Edwards won first prize; second-place winner was Thomas Hall; and rounding out the competition was Ed Summerfield.
The festival was a win all around, according to Washington (Noon) Rotary member and Smoke on the Water organizer Pam Anderson.
“Oh my gosh, it was awesome,” Anderson said. “We had beaucoup people. We sold out of barbecue; we sold out of chili.”
Anderson said while the total tally has not come in, she expected proceeds to be near $25,000.
“That’s a 25 percent increase in business, so that’s a lot more than last year,” Anderson said.
All Smoke on the Water proceeds are distributed by Washington (Noon) Rotary to support local nonprofits and other community organizations throughout the year.
Reprinted with permission from The Washington Daily News
