Congratulations to all who walked last night at the Georgia Barbecue Association 2023 Team of the Year Banquet. It was a wonderful evening celebrating accomplishments and fellowship. Thank you all for making the GBA the organization that it is today! Huge thank you to Linda Hawkins and the Lake Blackshear Resort for the amazing food and venue. The banquet was the largest ever with around 168 in attendance, great social hour, amazing dinner, 2024 Georgia BBQ Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, 2023 GBA Team of the Year Awards, and Dancing the Night Away with Tres Hombres!
POSSEE BBQ – 2023 GBA TEAM of the YEAR
RESCUE SMOKERS – 2nd Place TOTY
Off the Chain – 3rd Place TOTY
Shark Bite BBQ – 4th Place TOTY
319Q – 5th Place TOTY
Pig-eee-licious – 6th Place TOTY
Magnum P.I.G. – 7th Place TOTY
Real-licious Q – 8th Place TOTY
Big Butts BBQ – 9th Place TOTY
Flying Pig BBQ – 10th Place TOTY
Loin Team of the Year
1st Place Loin Team of the Year – POSSEE BBQ
2nd Place Loin TOTY – Off the Chain BBQ
3rd Place Loin TOTY – 319Q
Pork Team of the Year
1st Place Pork Team of the Year – Off the Chain BBQ
2nd Place Pork TOTY – Rescue Smokers
3rd Place Pork TOTY – Possee BBQ
Rib Team of the Year
1st Place Rib Team of the Year – RESCUE SMOKERS
2nd Place Rib TOTY – Possee BBQ
3rd Place Rib TOTY – 319Q
Congrats to Daniel Alix on his 2023 Judge of the Year Recognition!
Congratulations to the 2023 Judge of the Year Nominees! The GBA would not be where it is without the dedication of each and every judge, we greatly appreciate the role you play at each and every event!
2023 Judge of the Year Nominees – Ewa Belcastro, Chantell Gibbons, Ritamarie Arzillo, Lois Sebastian, Warren Abrams, Mark Coley, Robert Fisher, Lonnie Lewis
2024 Georgia Barbecue Hall of Fame Inaugural Inductees
Danny Meadows, GBA Founders(Alen/Loraine Khoury), Robby Royal, Myron Mixon, Phelp’s Family(National BBQ News) and Sheriff John W. Callaway (Deceased), joined by Georgia BBQ HOF Executive Director Greg Sebastian
The GBA Board of Directors is excited to announce the nominees for the 2023 Georgia BBQ Association Judge of the Year. It takes every GBA Member to have an amazing organization in which to cook, judges, teams, contest reps, and organizers! Unbeknownst to our judges this past season, the GBA Board began having lead reps of each contest nominate one judge from each contest for the GBA Judge of the Year. They have all demonstrated the best of the Georgia Barbecue Association and all nominees will be recognized and celebrated at the 2023 GBA Banquet with one of them will being Honored as the 2023 Judge of the Year. This award will be part of our GBA Banquet from this year forward. Please join us in congratulating the 2023 GBA Judge of the Year Nominees listed below in alphabetical order:
Warren Abrams, Daniel Alix, Ritamarie Arzillo, Ewa Belcastro, Mark Coley, Robert Fisher, Chantel Gibbons, Lonnie Lewis, and Lois Sebastian
THANK YOU to every judges that took time out of their weekends this past season to come out and judge BBQ, you are GREATLY APPRECIATED!
The 2023 GBA Baquet is scheduled for February 10, 2024 and will be held at the Lake Blackshear Resort and Golf Club. The cost is $25.00 per person – please invite your family and friends. We will have dinner and our annual GBA awards. There will be a cash bar. We just wanted to make everyone aware of the date so all GBA members can go ahead and make plans to attend. We’re cooking up some fun events to take place around this year’s banquet, including the 2023 GBA TOTY Awards, our GBA Judge of the Year Award, it will also feature the induction of the first class of honorees into the Georgia Barbecue Hall of Fame. We will have a live band again, great food, all will make for an amazing weekend!
Linda Hawkins has set Special Rates for the GBA Banquet Weekend: Lake Blackshear Camp Sites $45 per night and Cabins $189 per night. Please call 229-276-1004 to make your reservations, mention that you are with the GBA Banquet. Several Glamping Yurts are also available, but must be booked through https://www.timberlineglamping.com/
The GBA headed north to our last contest of the year – the Red, White, and Blue BBQ at the American Legion Post 45 in Canton, GA. 15 teams battled it out for the final points to be awarded in the 2023 season, and there was plenty of shakeups in the making. Hats off to the great group at the American Legion for making this a very special event, and for taking such good care of the GBA. We had an amazing group of GBA Reps and GBA Judges on scene to judge some amazing Q. POSSE BBQ and MAGNUM P.I.G both showed out with Triple Finals!!!!Posse BBQ left all doubt behind taking GRAND CHAMPION & Winning all 3 GBA categories.
MAGNUM P.I.G. – RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION
Magnum P.I.G. also finialed in all 3 categories and walked away with the Reserve Grand Championship.
1st Loin – POSSE BBQ
2nd Loin – Magnum P.I.G.
3rd loin – 319Q
Posse BBQ took the top Loin spot, followed by Magnum P.I.G. in 2nd. 319Q returns after a couple of weeks off to claim 3rd loin.
1st Pork – POSSE BBQ
2nd Pork – MAGNUM P.I.G
3rd Pork Loll Y Pops Q
Posse BBQ hit 1st again in the Pork category, again followed by Magnum P.I.G.Lolly, & Pops Smokin-Que took the 3rd pork spot.
1st Ribs – POSSE BBQ & 600 in Preliminary Round
2nd Ribs Scott’s Smoke Shack
3rd Ribs MAGNUM P.I.G.
Posse BBQ completed the trifecta in Ribs, taking first, and earing the only perfect “600” of the day. Scotts Smoke Shack BBQ landed in 2nd place, followed by Magnum P.I.G. in third.
Loin, Pork, & Ribs Results
TEAM OF THE YEAR
Now on to our final Team of the Year Update for the 2023 Season, three teams came to Canton with only 3 points separating them! Posse BBQ hammered home their TOTY Overall 1st place finish by amassing 45 points with Triple Finals, 3-1st Place Finishes, and Grand Champion at this event! Rescue Smokers jumped into 2nd Place Overall, 3 points ahead of Off the Chain in 3rd. Shark Bite BBQ held onto 4th, and 319Q moved into 5th.
Possee BBQ took over the top Loin spot, pushing Off the Chain down to 2nd. 319Q moved back into 3rd, followed by Pig-eee-licious in 4th and Rescue Smokers in 5th.
Off the Chain is the top Pork team of 2023, with Rescue Smokers in 2nd and Posse BBQ in third. Shark Bite BBQ is 4th pork and Pig-eee-licious lands in 5th.
Rescue Smokers claimed the top prize in Ribs this year, with Possee BBQ holding onto 2nd. 319Q again moved back into 3rd Rib, just ahead of Real-Licious in 4th, and Scotts Smoke Shack BBQ in 5th.
Our next event will be in the 2024 season starting off with the Dilly Dally in Dooly in February, then Rhythm and Ribs Festival in Tifton, Firehouse BBQ in Donalsonville, and the Fire Ant Festival BBQ Bash in Ashburn, GA for a busy month of March! We will also have a new judges class scheduled for early 2024.
2023 GBA BANQUET – February 10, 2024
Don’t forget the GBA Banquet, which will be held on Saturday, Feb 10, 2024. 2023 GBA Team of the Year Awards will take place along with some special awards to be enounced soon! We’re cooking up some fun events to take place around this year’s banquet, and it will also feature the induction of the first class of honorees into the Georgia Barbecue Hall of Fame. We’re again going to Lake Blackshear Resort, so make plans now to reserve your campsite or hotel room.
The Georgia BBQ Association headed over to Albany, GA for the 2023 Modern Gas Rib Showdown. We had beautiful weather and an amazing venue, with great organizers, GBA Teams, GBA Judges, and GBA Reps. The GBA Teams made life tough for the judges there, and when all the judging was done Rescue Smokers Won the Grand Championship with their Pork Entry scoring a 599.7 in Finals.
POSSE BBQ – RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION
Posse BBQ was the most consistent team with double finals winning the Reserve Grand Championship with two 1st Places & a 4th Place.
PORK LOIN CATEGORY
Posse BBQ won the Loin Category, Off the Chain took 2nd Place also having the days only 600 in the preliminary round, and Pig-eee-licious 3rd Place.
1st Place Pork Loin – Posse BBQ
2nd Place Pork Loin & “600” – Off the Chain
3rd Place Pork Loin – Pig-eee-licious
PORK CATEGORY
Rescue Smokers won the Pork category, Big Butts BBQ took 2nd Place, and Kaddie Q took 3rd Place with their first ever finals.
1st Place Pork – Rescue Smokers
2nd Place Pork – Big Butts BBQ
3rd Place Pork – Kaddie Q
RIB CATEGORY
Posse BBQ won the Rib Category, Hot Ash QBBQ took 2nd Place, and Kimbrell Q took 3rd Place in their very first GBA competition.
1st Place Ribs – Posse BBQ
2nd Place Ribs – Hot Ash BBQ
3rd Place Ribs – Kimbrell Q
Top 10 Results for the GBA Rib Showdown and Reserve Scoring.
The Modern Gas Rib Showdown also had their own local Rib Challenge and it was Crazy Reds BBQ taking 1st Place, Smokey Bottom 2nd Place, and Georgia Boy Smokers 3rd Place.
