The winners of the 21st Great Pork BarbeQLossal have been officially announced – and the Grand Champions are Mike and Beth Wozniak of Brimfield, Illinois. They are the second two-time champions in a row for the event. They previously won in 2004.
I spent some time at the BBQlossal before heading home on Saturday and got to speak with the lady who has been coordinating the event for the entire 21 years of its existence, Anne Rehnstrom. The BBQ competition is a year older than the World Pork Expo itself, since the first year expo was planned there was a foot-and-mouth disease scare.
Ann says the event is a really good way to promote pork to barbeque enthusiasts everywhere. She talks about the event, how it is judged and other interesting facts in this interview:
wpx08-bbqlossal.mp3
Or download here:
Anne Rehnstrom Interview (4:00 min MP3)
I also got the chance to visit with last year’s grand champions, Mike and Patty Kidwell of Missouri – the first two time winners – who were not actually competing themselves this year but helping daughter Jeanie and her husband Justin Duett.
Jeanie was hoping to follow in the footsteps of her folks and be this year’s grand champion, since she says she did “learn from the best.” But, they did place 4th in the rib category and 5th in whole hog this year. There’s always next year!
Listen to an interview with Patty and Jeanie here: wpx08-bbq-champs.mp3
Or download here:
2007 Champs Interview (1:30 min MP3)
Special thanks to Novus International for sponsoring AgWired coverage of World Pork Expo:
