Surviving the Wind and Rain in Ayden

Ayden is a classic Southern barbecue town. Because it is the home of two BBQ kings of North Carolina: Bum’s and Skylight Inn, it has earned a well-deserved spot on the N.C. Historic Barbecue Trail. It is also home to one of my favorite cookoffs, the Kings of Q, held each May.

Cooking teams set up in open spaces in downtown Ayden.

For 2018, the enthusiasm was high, but the weather was less than favorable. For the third annual rendition of Kings of Q, appropriately named to honor the city’s two regal pit master families and the legacy of their BBQ restaurants, 38 teams competed for a total of $10,000 in prize money in less than ideal conditions. The night before the judging took place, a major storm arrived and dumped several inches of rain, and heavy rain continued throughout the day of the festival, significantly reducing the turnout of the crowd.

As Stephen Tripp, the mayor of Ayden, welcomes judges, he points to the locations of the town's two BBQ kings. 

However, because the People’s Choice contest was conducted indoors, it offered a brief respite from the rain and was more popular than usual. The awards ceremony had to be moved indoors, and the festival was closed early because of rain. The team Muttley Crew, which won the cookoff, had high scores in all meat categories – chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket – and even earned a perfect score for its chicken entry.

Voters in the People's Choice contest appreciate the indoor space and avoid the rainy weather.

When all the judging activities were over and the judges were dismissed, I returned to my car only to find that the heavy rain had made the unpaved parking lot treacherous. My car immediately was trapped by mud when I started driving. Fortunately, a festival volunteer saw my trouble and paged town employees to pull me to safety. After a delay of about 45 minutes, I was out of the mud and carefully on my way home (but had to stop at The Collard Patch before leaving town).

Gray clouds that bring heavy rains hover over the cooking throughout the festival.

I look forward to returning to Ayden for another cookoff. However, next time, if it is raining, I’ll look for a safer parking area while I participate in the judging activities. Ayden is a fabulous place to be even in inclement weather, but it’s more enjoyable when the sun is shining.

The public works truck that pulled me out of the mud stays safely near the edge of the parking area.

Judging in an Former Mill Town Being Reinvented

The people's choice trophy for the
pork category awaits the winner.

Kannapolis, NC, has always intrigued me because it once was the home of the world’s largest producer of sheets and towels. As textile jobs have been sent overseas and domestic mills closed, the former mill towns in North Carolina have faced huge economic and social challenges. Kannapolis seems to be one that has an exceptionally bright future.

When I learned that Jiggy with the Piggy, a barbecue cookoff, was held in Kannapolis, I've wanted to participate as a judge and learn more about the city. On the space where mill buildings once stood, a superior barbecue contest is held. Cooking teams set up in downtown Kannapolis on the spacious horseshoe-shaped green space of the North Carolina Research Campus, where eight universities are teaming up to make breakthroughs in health and nutrition research.

Judge activities are held in the Kannapolis Town Hall.

The history of Kannapolis, which did not incorporate until 1984, stretches back to its beginnings as a textile center in 1908 when Cannon Manufacturing, a textile mill, began production. Within six years, it was producing more sheets and towels than any other mill. Although the successor Cannon Mills Company prospered for decades, textile industry changes led to the bankruptcy and then closing of the parent company.

Judges settle in the spacious conference area of the city offices.

The economic harm to Kannapolis was staggering when 4,340 workers lost their jobs in July 2003, the largest one-day layoff in state history. The turnaround of the city began in 2004, when billionaire David Murdock bought the mill at auction and announced plans to create a $1.5-billion project called the North Carolina Research Campus to create discoveries in nutrition, disease prevention, and agriculture. Being part of a barbecue cookoff in the middle of this campus was a special experience.

Cooking set up on the spacious area of the North Carolina Research Campus.

Jiggy with the Piggy this year brought in 70 teams from six states to compete for trophies and prize money totaling $15,400. The large number of teams required almost 100 judges (fortunately I was one) to evaluate the tenderness, taste, and appearance of entries in the categories of chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket. The festival also included concerts, children activities, more than 100 arts and crafts vendors, and two people’s choice contests (wings and pork).

In the heart o Cannon Village, the Dale Earnhardt Plaza celebrates the life and career of the NASCAR legend by his hometown.

Kannapolis is reshaping itself as an innovative community where health, nutrition, education, and science are now its business focus. In early May each year, it’s also the place to be for a great barbecue cookoff.