City of Crossville to host Wheels ‘n Squeals BBQ contest July 24
CROSSVILLE-The City of Crossville will play host to Crossville Wheels ‘n Squeals BBQ Contest, a sanctioned competitive barbeque event set for July 24.
“This is a fully-sanctioned event, governed by The Memphis Barbeque Network,” said Graham. “We are very excited to be associated with the network on the cook-off.”
The event has been posted in the contest schedule on The Memphis Barbeque Network’s (MBN) website, www.mbnbbq.com. The mission of the MBN is “to promote, educate, and enhance the aspects of pork barbecue cooking and competition that are associated with the unique style of Memphis barbecue,” its website says. Among its goals are to provide communications, organization and support for existing contests, and to provide the contest network with knowledgeable and experienced judges.
The Crossville competition will be judged by MBN-approved judges.
“Competitive barbeque events have exploded in popularity in recent years,” said city marketing director Billy Loggins, “partly due to the weekly cable TV series ‘BBQ Pitmasters,’ which airs on The Learning Channel on Thursdays of each week.
“We are hopeful the competition here might finds its way onto that show, which would be a huge boost to event and the City of Crossville,” Loggins said. “Many of the people who grill on the show have become big-time celebrities, and we are also hopeful we will have some of these master barbequers here with us.”
A public contest was held to name the upcoming event. More than 150 entries were received including many, many good ones. Crossville resident Lisa Lockard’s entry was chosen as the winner. Lockard will be presented with $100 in Downtown Dollars, which can be redeemed at any participating Downtown Crossville Incorporated business.
The BBQ Contest will be held in conjunction with the Classic Car Cruise-In downtown. The Classic Car Cruise-Ins are held on the fourth Saturday of each month between April and October. Classic autos from all eras line up on each side of Main Street from The Depot area to Lantana, with some side streets needed at times. Restaurants and vendors keep people well fed while live musical performers entertain the crowds.