Holy Smoke Cook Off #21

Holy Smoke 2025, the best yet!

April 5, 2025 was the date for the 21st 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 surrounding communities.

Over the years we've seen it wet, we've seen it stormy, and we've seen it cold for the Holy Smoke. I think this might be the first time we've had a summer kind of day for this springtime event. Overall though it was a beautiful day all day long and the crowd was great. This year there were fifteen church teams competing, (one with cake only) and donating to the cause. Ten of the BBQ teams also had a cornhole team that competed for a Championship trophy.

Gospel singing began at about 10:00 a.m. and lasted until about 4:30 p.m. with well-known singers from the surrounding areas 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: Jessica Welch & Jason Hughes, The Back Porch Pickers, Bubba Cobb & Harvey Wills, William Herndon, Dayspring Trio, and Restored.

The fifteen teams that competed (listed below) gave entry fee donations that amounted to $3,400. These entry donations along with two other church donations a personal donation totaled $4,550.

Bar-B-Que pork and chicken plates were sold from 11:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. There was a concession stand and T-shirt sales that all added to the grand total.

The last judging entry (Boston Butt) was judged at 5:00 p.m. and the judges had their final tallies before 5:30 p.m. At this time the Cake Baking trophies and the Cornhole trophy was awarded. Immediately after those awards local auctioneer Billy Black (New Era Land Co.) 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 in itself to be a part of the cake auction; what a fun way to make a donation. After an unexpected match of the sale price for the first prize cake, this part of the event raised $7,275.00, (thank you Mr. Billy!) making a GRAND TOTAL for the day, and an all-time record donation, of $20,557.36 that will be divided equally between the GA Baptist Children’s Home in Meansville, GA and the Methodist Girl’s Home in Americus. This makes a total to date funds raised of over $190,250.00 Praise the Lord!

After the cake auction, the judging totals were announced with trophies being awarded for the first three places in each category and for Grand Champion.

The Grand Champion of the 2025 BBQ competition (that included all entries except cakes) was Ebenezer Baptist Church from Ellaville Ga, with Reserve Grand Champion going to last year's Grand Champion, Westside Baptist from Adel Ga, and Second Runner-Up for the second year in a row was Weston Baptist Church. (See all of the winners below)

It was a great day of fellowship and fun with brothers and sisters in Christ all working together for a common goal. We thank each of the cooking teams, singers, judges, workers, and supporters that made this year’s Holy Smoke another huge success.

We also give a Special Thank You to Terry Adams at Adams Food Center, Chris Jones at Jones Sanitation and Tammy & Richard Merritt at Merritt Pecan Co. for their continued support, and to the many individuals for their personal donations.