Holy Smoke #18

April 9, 2022 was the date for the 18th annual Holy Smoke Christian Grilling Competition at the old school in the Centerpoint community of Preston Ga. The event was sponsored by Macedonia Baptist Church and supported by other area churches and many individuals.

After such a great year last year, we really didn't think it could get any better. Boy were we fooled! (don't under estimate or put a limit on what God can do) We were blessed with a nice day without rain. A little cool and windy but otherwise perfect. This year there were twelve teams competing in the cake and Bar-B-Que competitions and seven teams in the cornhole competition.

Gospel singing began at 10:00 a.m. and lasted until about 5 p.m. with well-known singers from the surrounding area and as far away as Jacksonville Fl. Each of these individuals or groups gave of their time to help in this mission project. They were: (1st) Mercy's Bridge (Sasser Ga), (2nd) William Herndon (Jax Fl), (3rd) Bubba Cobb & Harvey Wills, (4th) Blessed Assurance (Dawson Ga), (5th) Russ Kern(Madison Fl), (6th) Jessica Welch

Bar-B-Que plates were sold from 11:00 a.m. until about 5 p.m. with all proceeds (including many individual donations) of the day being divided equally between the Ga. Baptist Children’s home in Meansville Ga. and the Methodist Children’s home in Americus.

The twelve teams that competed, and another local church, gave donations and entry fees that totaled $2,595. The judging totals were tallied soon after the last meat turn in at 5:00 p.m. and before the trophies were awarded local auctioneer Billy Black took the floor for about 20 minutes auctioning off all of the cake entries. This added to the entertainment of the day. It's a treat just to listen to the auction. This part of the event raised $9,931.00 (thank you Mr. Billy!) making a GRAND TOTAL of $17,861.40 that will be divided between the homes. Praise the Lord!

After the cake auction the judging totals were announced with trophies being given for the first three places in each category and for Grand Champion. We also awarded a championship trophy to the winner of the Cornhole competition.

The Grand Champion of the 2022 BBQ competition (that included all entries except cakes) was Weston Baptist Church, with 1st & 2nd runners up being Safe Harbor Outreach & Ft. Perry Baptist, respectively. (see all of the winners below)

What a great day of fellowship and fun with brothers and sisters in Christ and a GREAT collective effort from all for this mission. (THANK YOU)

We thank each of the cooking teams, singers, judges, workers and supporters that made this year’s Holy Smoke another success and the best yet for funds raised.

We also give a special thank you to Terry @ Adams Food Center for his continued support, and to Chris Jones @ Jones Sanitation and to the many individuals for their personal donations.