2011 Tulsa Art of BBQ (AOB)

[Gaspar]

September 23^rd & 24^th
at OneOk Field.

Friday, September 23rd
     5pm Gates open at ONEOK Field - $2 admission
        Meet the teams
        Tulsa Drillers BBQ, concessions, and beverages available for purchase

     6pm MVP pARTy at the Oil Field Picnic Pavilion
       
     7pm OCCU private party on the Refinery Deck
        Closed to the public

     11pm AOB closes to the public

Saturday, September 24th
     11am Gates open at ONEOK Field - $2 admission

     11am BBQ Taster kit sales open
        $10 each to taste and vote on your favorite in the People's Choice Competition

     11:30am People's Choice tasting begins

     1pm BBQ Taster kit sales close
        ABSOLUTELY NO taster kits will be sold after this time

     TBD-3/4pm Awards ceremony on the Refinery Deck

It looks like we will have significantly more teams this year so the festival will be expanding.  We are also offering some new opportunities for sponsorship and participation.  On Friday, September 23rd at 6:00PM for the inaugural MVP pARTy, a kickoff to the 14th Annual Art of Barbeque, presented by Oklahoma Central Credit Union, at the home of the Tulsa Drillers, ONEOK Field!  Come celebrate the end of summer with coworkers and friends and get a taste of what's to come when our world-class barbeque cook-off contest, officially sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS), kicks off the next morning. 

Proceeds from the MVP pARTy will benefit thousands of children in the Tulsa area through the arts and cultural programming of the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa by

•   Ensuring participatory learning opportunities in arts and culture for children in grades K-12 – through Community Arts Partnerships and Youth Arts After School.

•   Creating a school climate of high expectation, discipline and academic rigor - through Harwelden Institute and Artists in the Schools.

•   Enhancing cultural activities that are often removed from curricula due to schools' funding challenges – through programs at our forthcoming Hardesty Arts Center, AHHA!

Along with the BBQ and beverages, we'll give you a taste of some of our programs at the MVP pARTy.  We'll help you to appreciate the flavor that the arts add to the lives of at-risk and underserved Tulsa area children who now stand a better chance to stay in school and achieve academically. Your help does make a difference!

If you are interested in purchasing a table or seats at the pARTy, the following opportunities are available. 

$10,000 – Grand Slam Sponsor
•   Prominent Logo placement on:
     o        Diamatron at the MVP pARTy & pARTy program
     o        AHCT website for 1 year
     o        Art of BBQ website (www.tulsaartofbbq.com)
     o        AOB T-shirt, all Council e-communications and in full page ad of August edition of Tulsa People
•   Premium reserved table for 10 at the MVP pARTy and VIP parking, Friday, September 23rd
•   2 judging seats for Saturday's main BBQ competition

$5,000 – Homerun Sponsor
•   Logo placement on:
     o        Diamatron at the MVP pARTy & pARTy program
     o        AHCT website for 6 months
     o        AOB T-shirt, all Council e-communications and in full page ad of August edition of Tulsa People
•   Premium reserved table for 8 with VIP parking at the MVP pARTy on September 23rd

$3,000 – Triple Sponsor
•   Logo placement on:
     o        MVP pARTy program
     o        AHCT website for 6 months
     o        Art Of BBQ website
•   Corporate/Foundation name listed in all Council e-communication
•   8 seats with VIP parking at MVP pARTy on September 23rd

$2,000 – Double Sponsor
•   Logo placement on the Council website and Art of BBQ website
•   MVP pARTy program listing
•   Corporate/Foundation name included in all Council e-communication
•   8 seats with VIP parking at MVP pARTy on September 23rd

$1,000 – Single Sponsor
•   Logo placement on the Council website and Art of BBQ website
•   MVP pARTy program listing
•   Corporate/Foundation name included in all Council e-communication
•   8 seats with VIP parking at MVP pARTy on September 23rd

The pARTy is a great opportunity for your company to show support and a great way to show your employees some love!

If you would like to receive a sponsorship packet, let me know.

[Gaspar]

[Gaspar]

Not sure if anyone on this forum competes, but we're already at about 40 teams and it's just the first week of August (last year we had less than 20 signed up by this time).

Our limit will be about 53 teams this year because of some really big rigs coming into town.  Knowing this, we will expand the event next year to accommodate additional entries.  All that being said, if you compete or know someone who does, please let them know that the window for getting registered is closing really fast.

Hopefully the heat will have passed us by then and everyone will be excited to get out of their bunkers!

www.tulsartofbbq.com

[Hoss]

Not sure if anyone on this forum competes, but we're already at about 40 teams and it's just the first week of August (last year we had less than 20 signed up by this time).

Our limit will be about 53 teams this year because of some really big rigs coming into town.  Knowing this, we will expand the event next year to accommodate additional entries.  All that being said, if you compete or know someone who does, please let them know that the window for getting registered is closing really fast.

Hopefully the heat will have passed us by then and everyone will be excited to get out of their bunkers!

www.tulsartofbbq.com

you might correct the url; you're missing that extra 'a' after 'tulsa'.

http://www.tulsaartofbbq.com

[Gaspar]

you might correct the url; you're missing that extra 'a' after 'tulsa'.

http://www.tulsaartofbbq.com

Thanks!  Early morning pre-coffee posting.

[Gaspar]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=39&articleid=20110922_39_WK14_ULNSiP560338

By NICOLE MARSHALL MIDDLETON World Scene Writer
Published: 9/22/2011  2:23 AM
Last Modified: 9/22/2011  4:04 AM

For Tim Kelly, barbecue is a hobby that "went awry."

It used to be something he enjoyed on fishing trips, but then Kelly and some college buddies took their barbecue on the road and started going to barbecue competitions. Their professional barbecue team, 3 Guys Smokin', was born in 1987.

Since that time, their passion for barbecue spun off in many different directions, Kelly said. They have won more than 200 ribbons and trophies, including 15 top-five finishes at the American Royal International BBQ Competition in Kansas City. They also created their own barbecue spice and a line of barbecue sauces.

Kelly and Craig Dahlquist, a fellow member of 3 Guys Smokin', were on the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa board at a time when the organization was looking for a new fundraiser. They suggested a local barbecue competition, and the Art of Barbeque (as the Arts & Humanities Council prefers to spell it) was born 14 years ago.

"This was very different than anything they had ever done before," Kelly said.

The first year, when the event was held on the grounds of Harwelden Mansion, 2210 S. Main St., about 27 teams competed, he said. The Arts & Humanities Council raised more money for its educational programs that first year of Art of Barbeque than its previous fundraiser did in three years, Kelly said.

Like the event, Kelly said that 3 Guys Smokin' has grown and now includes five men, one woman and a faithful entourage. They are like the "ambassadors of barbecue" and continue to teach barbecue classes and dream up new barbecue competitions in the region.

Barbecue competitions are vastly different from what they used to be, but Kelly said that it is still a passion for him, and the 3 Guys Smokin' team looks forward to competing again this year in the Art of Barbeque.

"(Competitors) used to be so laid back and easy-going. These days, instead of showing up with a Weber Grill and a Brinkman Bullet, people are showing up with $60,000 portable kitchens," Kelly said. "There is more money involved these days, and the competition is fierce."

However, Kelly said there are cooks who can still pull off a win with old- fashioned barbecue know-how.

"You don't have to have the high-dollar stuff to go out there and win," he said. "At the American Royal, we took second in the world with our pork butt on a $25 Brinkman smoker. It is not about who has got the most money to throw at it. It is about who cooks the best meat."

But it's not the awards and notoriety that means the most to him, Kelly said.

"The people I am doing this with are friends from college. A lot of people get separated from their buddies when they go on with their lives. But 3 Guys Smokin' has allowed our friendship to stay strong," Kelly said.

"And if there was not a true passion for what we are doing, we would have burned out long ago."


Original Print Headline: Fanning the flame of passion for first-class barbecue

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=39&articleid=20110922_39_WK14_ULNSiP560338

[DolfanBob]

That is a awsome article. Kudos to 3 guy's smokin.
I told a friend here at work about the competition(He is a huge BBQ nut)
He has entered and told me that he was asked to Judge also.
So thanks for letting everbody know about this event.

[Gaspar]

That is a awsome article. Kudos to 3 guy's smokin.
I told a friend here at work about the competition(He is a huge BBQ nut)
He has entered and told me that he was asked to Judge also.
So thanks for letting everbody know about this event.

If you work downtown you should smell the pecan and hickory burnin at about noon.   

5pm: Gates open for those who want to wander down after work.  This is an excellent time for anyone who is interested in the process of competition bbq to observe us manipulating our meat and shoving wood into our boxes.  We will also be doing a series of interviews for local TV and radio at this time. 

7pm: We are typically done with the prep and most of the meat is on.  This is party time.  If you stay much longer than 8, much beer is consumed and we start giving away our secrets.  Every pro team loves these magic hours, and if you bring a lawn chair you can usually find several new friends to visit with in the course of the evening.  There is music and lots of laughter.

I encourage everyone on the forum to stop by. 

[tulsacyclist]

Sounds fun. Are there any childrens activities and/or bbq to eat tonight or is most of that going on tomorrow? Thanks.

[joiei]

I will be in the judges room today.  The AOB is a great event with great cookers competing. 

[heironymouspasparagus]

Oklahoma Joe's is IT!!!  Can't wait until the new shop opens in BA.  Will SOOOOOO be there!!!

#46 definitely had the best pork in the history of the world!!  (United Smokers of America).

[Gaspar]

Oklahoma Joe's is IT!!!  Can't wait until the new shop opens in BA.  Will SOOOOOO be there!!!

#46 definitely had the best pork in the history of the world!!  (United Smokers of America).

Joe does some good stuff, and his restaurants are very consistent.  He should do well out there.

[Conan71]

How did 3 GS do?

[Gaspar]

How did 3 GS do?

We won First Place for people's choice!  Our PPC stuff was sooo good.  We used the old standard recipes and ran 100% pecan in the smokers all night.  There were a couple of PPC briskets I wish we had swapped for the comp chop.

We got 5th in Brisket, but beat out two world champions.  Wish I had an opportunity to taste the winning brisket, because ours was awesome!

We got 10th in steak because our presentation sucked, and one judge scored us poorly across the board.

We didn't win money on anything else :-(.

. . .But we had a party on Friday night that was legendary!
We had some nice celebs spend the evening with us.  We fed them all and consumed some good rum, tequila, and fine cigars. It was a good night.