Written by: Eric Hinkson
On Saturday, July 17, 2021, the Dads of Castle Rock (DoCR) held their first annual Bar-B-Que cookoff event to see who makes the best barbeque ribs in the Dads of Castle Rock (DoCR.). The event was free to the local community and families all around Castle Rock, Colorado and the surrounding areas were invited to come join the fun with cornhole, mini-put golf, a bounce house, good beer, a live band, karaoke and nearly all you can eat Bar-B-Que.
While most of the event goers relaxed, played games, listened to music, and socialized, the nine barbeque competitors, Shaun Roberts, Jason Whitted, Jason Brown, Allen Zearing, Dave Braidman, Mondo Villanueva, Aaron Krening, Brian Brooks, Christopher Edlin, and Brian Burke slaved away over their smokers. Each team started with two racks of pork ribs provided by DoCR to have a level playing field at the onset. Each grill master prepared the meats with their own oils, rubs, spices, sauces, smoking flavors, and timing to produce their own unique Bar-B-Que ribs.
When the smoke settled, the judges had nine different rib styles to taste from. It was a blind taste test, in that the judges did not know which ribs belonged to which grill master. It was a grueling competition, but the clear winners, by way of rib bone voting, was Christopher Edlin and Brian Burke. The winner’s spoils included a new Traeger Tailgater Pellet Grill donated by Moore Lumber to help take their Bar-B-Que game to the next level.
Throughout the competition and after, children of all ages laughed and played with each other all day long on the bounce house and games over the watchful eye of their parents, while enjoying live music from the band, “5 Minutes Late,” and spending time getting to know some of their neighbors – some old friends and some new.
As the sun set, an evening movie was put on for the kids while the adults continued to enjoy the band, DJ, and karaoke well into the night. It was a fun way to build strong community in our town and many are people are excitedly anticipating the next Bar-B-Que Cookoff.
Though the event’s primary goal was to provide a venue and occasion to build and stronger sense of community in our town, a casual donation collection bucket was set up next to the brewery stand. This generated over $700 for the DoCR benevolence fund.
Many thanks go out to the following people and organizations for their contribution to making this event a reality: Jonathon Douglas, owner of All Around Auto Care, and his staff for providing the location and facilities, Eric Christoph, owner of 105W Brewing Company, for supplying the beer, 5 Minutes Late for putting on an energizing show, Avery Kyle – DJ extraordinaire, Moore Lumber for donating the Traeger Tailgater Pellet Grill, Mitchell Sawin and Ryan Clement for cooking burgers, hotdogs and sausages for all guests, Rocky Myers for smoking, pulling, and serving pulled pork, Paul Myhill for making several gallons of his top notch macaroni salad, Nate Hoff and Anthony Stover for working the DoCR merchandise booth, Cody Vice for supplying theatre equipment for the kids movie, and Tanner Cole, Jason Bushey, and Mark Blickenstaff for organizing the event.
