by Mark Gibbs, MABA Board member and Pitmaster of Checkered Flag 500 BBQ

Que for the Troops #Q4TT2016 is an annual BBQ festival and competition held at Falls Township Park in Levittown, PA each year to support the Philadelphia USO organization.  This year’s contest featured 67 teams (a new record high for Q4TT) from all over the region.  The weather was ordered by the Chamber of Commerce!  It was a beautiful weekend for smoke, music and fun indeed.  Matt Markey of Falls Township does a great job of setting up the competitors with the best amenities for each of the BBQ teams.  There is always ample power, water and a great breakfast on Saturday morning for all of the teams.

The social scene was alive and well on Friday night.  The skies were clear and teams were taking advantage of the opportunity to visit and catch up with friends and fellow competitors.  The weekend started off with an Anything Butt Category and a Dessert Category on Friday evening.  JURASSIC PORK – PA took home the honors in the Anything Butt with a fried shrimp offering.   MABA’s own BBQ Bob Trudnak finished second in the category with this great platter of Surf and Turf Guru Style (pictured below).  Those shrimp must have been amazing if this was second place!  Our Bark is Better Than Your Bite took home the honors in the dessert category.  Congrats to everyone in those two categories!  We love BBQ, but we have some chefs in our region that can make your head spin with some gourmet dishes!

Saturday brought another beautiful day to the park and the competitors had the smoke rolling.  A passerby remarked that the smell coming from the BBQ rigs was amazing.  He was not lying!  The awards ceremony was at 4pm and right on time.  The Q4TT team does not waste any time when it comes to awards.  The teams were crowded in around the stage and the awards began.  Top honors in the Chicken Category went to MABA’s own Smokin’ Foolz of New Cumberland, PA.  The big Rib trophy went home with Dead On Q of Fairless Hills, PA.  First in Pork was Eastern Beast BBQ of Valley Stream, NY (one of three top 5 calls!).  The Brisket trophy went home with yours’ truly, Checkered Flag 500 BBQ of Fawn Grove, PA.

The Top 5 Overall were Checkered Flag 500 BBQ, Hawg Nation BBQ of Phoenixville, PA, Eastern Beast BBQ Team, Dante’s Inferno out of Newportville, PA and Smokestack Redemption from Phoenixville, PA.  Four of the top five finishers are Mid-Atlantic Barbeque Association members!  Way to represent MABA!

Congrats to everyone who had their names called and huge congratulations to the folks at Que for the Troops for another great competition.  Rumor has it that they are already making plans for 2017 and beyond!