Holy Smoke Cook Off #19

April 1, 2023 was the date for the 19th 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 surrounding communities.

We’ve wondered the last several years how the event’s total donations continue to grow and have thought that surely it won’t happen again this year. Well, we were pleasantly surprised, as once again the donations surpassed last year, thanks to the generosity of all. Rain did come, but did not dampen the spirits of all who were involved. This year, there were fourteen teams competing in the cake and Bar-B-Que competitions and several teams competed 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 areas and as far away as Jacksonville and Madison, Fl. Each of these individuals or groups gave of their time to help in this mission project. They were: Trinity Southern Gospel Trio, Angela Roberts, Back Porch Pickers, William Herndon, Russ Kern, Jessica Welch, and Dayspring Trio.

Bar-B-Que pork and chicken plates were sold from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. All proceeds (including individual donations, concession stand, and tee-shirt sales) totaled $11,579.85.

The fourteen teams that competed gave donations and entry fees that totaled $3,550.00. The judging totals were tallied soon after the last meat turn-in at 5:00 p.m. 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 $7,545.00 (thank you Mr. Billy!) making a GRAND TOTAL for the day, less expenses, of $19,123.74 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 $152,000.00 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. We also awarded a championship trophy to the winner of the Cornhole competition.

The Grand Champion of the 2023 BBQ competition (that included all entries except cakes) was Cuthbert Baptist Church, with Reserve Grand Champion being Upatoi UMC, and Second Runner-Up being Weston Baptist Church (last year’s Grand Champion). (See all of the winners below)

What a great day of fellowship and fun with brothers and sisters in Christ all working together for a common goal. A GREAT BIG MACEDONIA THANK YOU!

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

Lastly, we give a special thank you to Terry Adams at Adams Food Center and Chris Jones at Jones Sanitation for their continued support, Interfor Corp. for providing almost 300 hundred pounds of Boston butts, and the many individuals for their personal donations.