Holy Smoke Cook Off #20

April 6, 2024 was the date for the 20th 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.

It was a beautiful day with the weather cooperating all day long and the crowd was great as well. This year, there were thirteen church teams competing for the Grand Champion trophy. Eight of the BBQ teams also had a cornhole team that competed for a Championship trophy.

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, Fl. Each of these individuals or groups gave of their time to help in this mission project. They were: Jessica Welch & Jason Hughes, Angela and Gene Roberts, Back Porch Pickers, William Herndon, Dayspring Trio, and Restored.

The thirteen teams that competed (listed below) gave donations and entry fees and along with them Cuthbert Baptist Church, Richland Methodist Church, Enterprise Baptist Church, Rev. Dick Gill and Mr. Sanford Wills gave donations. These entry donations and personal donations totaled $5,650. Bar-B-Que pork and chicken plates were sold from 11:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. There was a concession stand and T-shirt sales that all added to the grand total.

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 $4,025.00 (thank you Mr. Billy!) making a GRAND TOTAL for the day, less expenses, of $17,698.14 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 $169,700.00 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 Westside Baptist Church from Adel Ga, with Reserve Grand Champion being Ft. Perry Baptist from Marion County, and Second Runner-Up was Weston Baptist Church. (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, and to the many individuals for their personal donations.