Rotary Rock ‘n Ribs

By Laurie Tweeten

Rotary Rock n Ribs Grand Champions
Totally Sauced

For the first time ever, Rotary Rock-n-Ribs and Bassmaster Elite Series joined together to create a fun event for barbeque and fishing enthusiasts on June 22-24, 2018 in the parking lot of the La Crosse Valley View Mall, in La Crosse, Wisconsin. That’s not in Minnesota, you say? It’s close enough. We could see Minnesota from this contest.

This year, the 4th Annual Rotary Rock-n-Ribs grew even more from last year.

On Friday there was 13 young barbeque competitors in the Texas Roadhouse & Midwest TV & Appliance Kids Q Competition which was led by Brad and Linda Teske and their team. There were two categories in the Kids Q – Grill Masters, ages 7-10 years old, who cooked hamburgers, and Pit Masters, ages 11-15, who cooked sirloin steaks. Congratulations to Madelyn Little for taking 1st place in the Grill Master category. Other winners in the Grill Master category were Jack Brown, Keira Schlicht, Eli Hanson, Sydney Cicozz, and Kyan Teepe. Congratulations to Parker Thompson who took first place in the Pit Master category. Other Pit Master winners were: Elly Frey, Sam Brown, Olivia Thompson, Kyle Fagerland, Jacob Little, and Tyson Felton. All the children in the Kids Q competition, including their siblings, enjoyed a delicious Dilly Bar from the Onalaska Dairy Queen.

Friday evening there was 26 participants competing for $2500 with their beautiful ribeye steaks donated by Bubba’s Meats of La Crosse

Rotary Rock n Ribs Reserve Grand Champions
City Slickers

in the SCA Competition. Congratulations to Ryan Hegland for taking 1st place; 1st – Dustin Reese; 3rd – Brad Steinbrink; 4th – Chris Bjork; 5th – Justin McGlahn; and 6th – John Lang.

On the beautiful Saturday morning, 41 teams competed for $10,000 that paid out to the top 10 places in each of the four meat categories, the grand champion, reserve grand champion, and the third overall winner; and 27 backyard teams competed for $3000 that paid out to the top 10 places in each of the two meat categories, the grand champion and the reserve grand champion.

Congratulations to the following winners and all the teams who heard their team be called:

Grand Champion: Totally Sauced

Reserve Grand Champion: City Slickers

3rd Overall: Lucky 19 Sauce Company

Chicken: 1st – The Q Crew;

2nd – Totally Sauced; and

3rd – C.R. Butts Smoke;

4th – Big Al’s Ghetto Hogs; and

5th Borgen’s Café

Ribs: 1st – Lucky 19 Sauce Company;

2nd – Toppgator BBQ;

3rd – City Slickers;

4th – Hogline; and

5th – Smoke In the Eye

Pork: 1st – Totally Sauced;

2nd – Lucky 19 Sauce Company;

3rd – Dry 2 Da Bone;

4th – City Slickers; and

5th – Croix Valley Sauces

Brisket: 1st – Totally Sauced;

2nd Big Chain BBQ;

3rd It’s BBQ Time;

4th – Spitfire; and

5th – City Slickers

Stand-Alone Backyard Competition

Grand Champion: Hog Slobbering BBQ

Reserve Grand Champion: H2O BBQ

Chicken: 1st – 2 Sauced Two Smoke;

2nd – H2O BBQ;

3rd – Carnivorous Jim;

4th – Canardly Wait 4 Que; and

5th – Ugly Baby BBQ

Ribs: 1st – Hog Slobbering BBQ;

2nd – Magnum P.I.G.;

3rd – RIP BBQ;

4th – Little Tim’s Smokin’ Barbeque; and

5th – Big Ten Bones

Thank you to all the barbeque teams for coming and participating in the Rotary Rock-n-Ribs and the KCBS judges, volunteers, and KCBS reps, Cindy and Tom Juhl, for taking part and helping in the Rotary Rock-n-Ribs BBQ event. This competition was a successful event thanks to ALL of you! Also, a big thank you to Kish & Sons Electric, Coulee Region Mechanical Contractors, and Dakota Supply Group for their outstanding abundance of time, services, and supplies for making sure electric and water were provided to the barbeque teams, KCBS reps, food vendors, and to the Bassmaster Elite Series. Check out our website at rotaryrocknribs.com to see the list of winners and our great sponsors who helped put the Rotary Rock-n-Ribs event on the map for the 4th year!

Upcoming Minnesota KCBS Contests

By LuBBQ Holter

We have four awesome contests remaining in the Minnesota competition season, and they are some great ones! On August 17-18 the students move into the Southern Minnesota State University campus in Marshall, MN and they are welcomed by a backdrop of BBQ competitors! This is a high energy, very family friendly event held right on campus. They have breakfast for the cooks, a Bloody Mary bar, a large screen movie on the football field and plenty of parking for friends and family to join the cooks for the day. Check it out at: smsumustangs.com/smokefest

On August 24-25 in Albert Lea, MN is the long standing Big Island BBQ. This event is held at the Freeborn County Fairgrounds and has lots of space, shade, and comforts for the cooks. On Friday night they have a Steak Cookoff Association competition with a wings contest, a chili competition (with a people’s choice), and a Kids Q. They also have a highly competitive dessert competition on Saturday. Oh, and the live music at this event is always top notch! This is definitely one not to miss! More information can be found at: bigislandfestivalandbbq.org

On September 1-2 in beautiful Winona, MN, along the banks of the Mississippi River, is the Big Muddy Brew & Que. This a unique contest in Minnesota, in that ALL of the meats for the competition are provided by HyVee and are required to be used by all the teams! It makes for an interesting playing field and a fun challenge for those that are used to only cooking a certain type of meat. The event also has a craft show, food vendors, wine tasting, micro brew tasting, live music, and so much more! Check it out at: bigmuddybrewnque.com

On September 14-15, the last contest for the year is held in Minnesota, King Turkey Day’s Smoking Gobbler Barbecue Cookoff, in Worthington, MN. This community event features many activities for the whole family including, a 10K run & 5K walk, a turkey race, parade, outdoor movie, midway, and a beer garden. More information can be found at: kingturkeyday.net

Following these events, the leaves will start to change color and fall. The cold winds will start to blow and us northerners will start to prepare for another winter by stacking the firewood (or calling the furnace inspector). The season may be short up here, but it’s a heck of a good time, don’t ya know.