September 6, 2016 – United Way of Nevada County held its 10th annual BBQ event, “Grills ‘n’ Grilles” on Saturday, August 27th. The event was held at Western Gateway Park and about 500 people showed up to view the beautiful foreign, classic and electric cars and sample grilled delicacies. The 2nd Derek Sorensen Memorial Disc Golf Tournament took place earlier in the day. A Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) sanctioned competition was held in conjunction with a Backyard BBQ competition. People voted for their favorite Backyard BBQ team and favorite vehicle. A team of expert judges chose the winning “Critics Choice” in the Backyard BBQ competition and the KCBS winning teams. The KCBS Grand Champion was team “Smokey Luv BBQ” lead by Kevin Barteaux and Reserve Champion was Jeff Clark and “The B Team”. To view the rest of the winners of the KCBS competition, go to www.kcbs.us/events (scroll down to the event).
The first place winner of the 2016 Backyard BBQ People’s Choice 1st place award went to “The Rib Doctors” headed up by long-time Backyard BBQ-er Kristian Hockinson. Second place went to “Interfaith Food Ministry BBQ Kings” and third place went to “Gold Country Community Center Silver Servants”. The Backyard BBQ Critic’s Choice 1st place went to “The Cooking Dead”, headed up by Mike Brocco, with Rib Doctors and Lil Pig BBQ coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively. The Gold Country Community Services team also won the Spirit Award for their positive energy, creativity, and spiritedness.
The “Best in Show” winner in the Car Show was a 1956 Chevy Nomad owned by Jane Ammerman. If you didn’t make it to this fun event, you missed out on some delicious barbecue and food vendors. The attendees enjoyed great music by Crossing 49 while children played in the Kid’s Area. Great raffle prizes were given out during the event. All of the proceeds from this event go to the United Way of Nevada County Community Impact Fund, which goes towards making an impact in the areas of Basic Needs; emergency shelter, food insecurity and access to healthcare.