Winner, Winner, Made The Chicken Dinner?
Gothic Town Grillers Randy Kern won the top spot.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – You could smell the B-B-Q at least two blocks away from the Oskaloosa Square as dozens of teams squared off in this year’s version of Bar-B-Q for Badges.
The idea for Bar-B-Q for Badges happened just over three years ago, with Kory Wright and Wyndell Campbell. The two had a conversation over a meal, and only seven weeks later, the first event took place.
The second-year saw more participants, and the event was refined.
This year, the event was big enough to stand on its own and wasn’t part of the annual Christmas in July festival in downtown.
Things were uncertain as COVID-19 closures changed the landscape, but as the state began to open up, Campbell and Wright moved forward with their event, one of the first in the state, and certainly the first major event in Mahaska County.
Troy Boston was looking to repeat as Grand Champion this year, but it wasn’t in the cards this time. Gothic Town Grillers Randy Kern won the top spot.
There were 30 teams in all that smoked approximately 3000 lbs of meat and served 700 attendees.
The Reserve Grand Champion was T Daddy’s BBQ Tory and Paula Ketelsen.
The Top 1st Responder award went to Hedrick Fire Department.
The best chicken went to Hedrick Fire
The best ribs – Gothic Town Grillers
Best pork – T Daddy’s BBQ
Best brisket – T-Rex BBQ
BBQ Bacon Challenge – Thin Blue Swine
In all, there were first responder departments from Hedrick Fire, Pella Fire, Oskaloosa Fire, Oskaloosa Police Department, and the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office.
When it was said and done, the competition had raised $22,000 for Mahaska County First Responders.
“Thanks to our sponsors, we were able to raise twice the funds from the previous year,” said Campbell.
The money raised from the competition is going to area first responders to help them with their needs. “Heroes don’t wear capes. We’ve got Heroes that dress up every day, wait for the bad stuff to happen, and they’re there when the bad stuff does happen. We thank them for what they do,” said Campbell. “This is just a little opportunity to give back to them for doing their job every day.”
“The weather turned out great, and we were blown away by the support and all our communities generous donations,” added Campbell.
