BONNYVILLE - During the July 9 Town of Bonnyville council meeting, Ryan Chornohos, Steven Tomm, and Korey Stanley from the Big Smoke Bonnyville association procured a $5,000 donation for the group’s third annual barbecue competition.
Contestants can enter and barbecue their best brisket, pork, or chicken, to be judged in this elite competition.
The date is currently set for Sept.14 at the Bonnyville rodeo grounds.
The association not only plans on continuing the annual event but strives to be part of the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS), the world's largest non-profit of barbecue and grilling enthusiasts.
In a recent social media post, Big Smoke Bonnyville writes, “Rules will change slightly for this year as we are going try and align ourselves with KCBS rules for an easier transition if the event grows enough to warrant adding it to the competition circuit! Which we hope it does!”
Coun. Brian McEvoy commended Big Smoke for taking on the event and feels it will “grow into something quite large” and be an event that brings people into Bonnyville.
Stanley explained to town council that the KSBS competitions run a points system much like the rodeos, where competitors get an accumulation of points from all the competitions. This could bring world class grill masters to Bonnyville in the future.
Despite aspirations to join the KCBS that claims over 16,000 members, Big Smoke aims to keep the competition accessible with low entry fees, and to maintain its “small town feel.”
Chornohos says the $5,000 funding request will cover a lot of start-up costs including reusable marketing banners that do not need to be purchased annually.
“The reason why the events committee handed this off to the experts was because we felt that the growth was more possible from a third party and not the town of Bonnyville, so it’s encouraging that they have decided to continue the event and grow it. I don’t mind looking at providing the start up,” Coun. Neil Langridge said.
Though Langridge expresses his support for the full $5,000 funding request, he said, “It’s not something I’d want to see us doing every year,” and he hopes the event will become more self-sustaining.
