Well – H*QUE made it back for a third run at the Jakey in June contest in St. Jacob, IL. It’s a non-sanctioned event that we’ve been involved with since it started. Richard and Susan Schmidt put on quite a contest and from a competitor’s viewpoint, you couldn’t ask for a better equipped contest to attend.
Joe, Stel and myself arrived on Friday night with everthing we needed vend and compete – so our new toy hauler setup got quite a test and a workout on the first go around with us. We cooked off a total of 32 pork butts this last weekend for vending and luckily sold out of just about everything we brought! WOO HOO! We vended pulled pork sandwiches, bbq nachos and cowboy cocktails. Thanks to my family (Mom, Dad and Sis) for working so hard and helping us vend. Couldn’t have done it without you!! We were glad to have you there. Thanks to Jen for helping on both sides of the table with both vending and competing – it sure was a lot of work wasn’t it, but ya did great! And of course thanks to my team members Stel and Joe for all of their VERY hard work all weekend long with vending and competing – you guys hung right in there with me and I sure appreciated it. Enjoy your rest this week – y’all earned it!
We’ve had better years in the past as far as calls for this contest go. 1st year was G.C., last year was R.G.C. and this year…well..
Anything But – 3rd (Thanks to Brian Harris, my good friend who showed up to say hi and got put to work making the glaze for the beef tenderloin – you really helped me out on this one!)
Dessert – 1st!! Way to go Stel and Kate!!
Ribs – 3rd
So we didn’t come out like gangbusters, but I always say – 1 call and we’re happy – we took 3 calls – so can’t complain. I’m not 100% sure but I think we came in 8th overall out of 17 teams – so a middle of the pack run for us. But we had fun vending and enjoyed the venue.
One final note – A HUGE CONGRATS to Michael True for his first ever call at a contest – 2nd in ribs!! We were cheering ya on!! We’ll done sir!!! And congrats to his son Hayden as well who got a ribbon in the kids Q!!
Congratulations on all of your calls and a successful vending weekend for you guys and gals. Thanks for recommending Jakey in June to me as it is a great venue and competition. Wonderful breakfast too!
I appreciate the mention and more specifically the congrats to my son. He is a great team mate and holds his own at every event. Hayden is awesome!
I know you were more tired than I was, but this one wore me out with the early turn-ins. I slept eleven hours last night and am glad to be back at work for some needed rest.
It was great having you there – thanks for the help on equipment and a few drinks as well.
Your son is awesome – no doubt – we love having him come around camp and visiting – you should be proud of him – we sure are!
This was a tough event for us – we were short a couple of team members and between competing and vending it flat put the hurt on us. But we made it through – that was the important part. I wish I could have gotten 11 hours of sleep – I think I got about 6. More unpacking to do tonight too – ACK!
Take care Michael – looking forward to competing with you at the next one!