2013 Art & Balloon Festival, August 30, 2013
Special edition of LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com Page 37
championship scores at the end
of the season, when KCBS hosts
its national event. In addition, the
local event offers the second-largest
purse in the state, $15,000.
In the first year of competition,
there were approximately 30
entries. In year two, there were
44. This week Graue said there are
currently 46 entries, but he knows
there are those who will enter at the
last possible moment. Therefore, he
is expecting that the competition
this year will consist of no less than
50 entries.
Graue said that of the 46 entries
thus far, about 75 percent are
returning competitors.
Among the well-known names on
the list are:
Jeff Brinker of Insane Can Posse.
Brinker was last year’s grand
champion.
Gill Taft of Gilly’s BBQ, Drew
McNatt of Hog Tide BBQ, Darren
Warth of Iowa’s Smokey D’s BBQ
and Mike Wozniak of Quau are
all signed up for the Lincoln
competition, and all of these cooks
are also ranked in the top 10 in
points on the national level.
In addition, Steve Hayden of
One 2 BBQ will be here. Hayden
is currently in the top 20 in points
nationally and finished ninth in
brisket nationally last year
There are also some local cooks in
the mix, among them Dave and
Wade Kaesebier of Lincoln, who
will join the competition for the
first time this year.
Last year the committee added
a new event to the competition,
the “Anything Goes” shish kabob
competition. Graue said it was a
very pleasant surprise to see how
many
of the
competitors took part in the
event, and the work they did was
outstanding.
In that competition, competitors
were to create shish kabobs with
the option to add vegetables to
the skewer. They were required to
also use watermelon as a garnish.
The pieces were submitted to the
Lincoln fire station and judged by
local law enforcement, firefighters
and other first responders.
The dishes that made their way to
the firehouse on that first Friday
night event were pure works of
art. Nearly all of them carved their
watermelons into remarkable
shapes and used them as holders
in one way or another for their
skewers.
In that first competition there were
19 entries, and Graue said this week
he fully expects that number to
grow this year.
And this year, there will be another
new event, with high hopes and
expectations that the “Lincoln
Backyard BBQ” competition will
also be a success.
The new competition will not be
a KCBS-sanctioned event, but it
will draw in a local component
and perhaps
set the stage
for more
local KCBS
competitors
in the future.
Graue talked
briefly about
this new
event. “We
wanted to
add the
Backyard to give the local cooks
an opportunity to show off their
skills without stepping into the
professional level just yet. With
a purse of $500 and some nice
ribbons, this should bring even
more people downtown,” he said.
Royal Oak Charcoal is sponsoring
the Backyard BBQ, and LifePointe
Church is hosting the event by
providing the facility for the
judging and also supplying the
judges.
“Shane (Alley) has done a great
job on the Backyard and has really
taken ownership of the event,”
Graue said. “It should be a great
addition.”
Graue also noted that this type of
event cannot be done each year
without a ton of support. He said
that working with the Lincoln/
Logan County Chamber and
making Up in Smoke part of the
Lincoln Art & Balloon Festival has
been a great boon for the event.
“I can’t say enough about Andi
Hake and her staff at the chamber.
They take care of all the money,
