Barbecue, football and other fun stuff
Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
Congratulations are in order for head cook Caleb Stringer and his Brisket, Bones & Brews BBQ (grand champion) team of Blanchester, who won the second annual Smokin’ in the Hills barbecue cookoff, sponsored by R+L Carriers, at Rocky Fork Lake this past weekend.
Congratulations, too, to Ale Yeah BBQ (the reserve champion) of Delaware, Ohio with head cook Chris Pannell.
Congratulations are also in order for Highland County Visitors Bureau Director Destiny Bryson, who served as a co-coordinator of the event this year – and last. For those who don’t know, Destiny works on Smokin’ in the Hills almost year-round. She promotes the event through local media, social media, public speaking and of course, with the Kansas City Barbeque Society, which sanctions the competition.
On Saturday, I enjoyed a very pleasant conversation with one of the judges of the 2017 and 2018 contests. Patricia Bendick, a Kansas City Barbeque Society-certified judge from Worthington, Ohio, was back for the second straight year.
We happened to meet for a few minutes near the boat docks just below the old lake restaurant off Lucas Lane.
Pat praised Destiny’s efforts and said she enjoyed the event last year and was happy to return as a judge. We also had a bit of a debate about S.R. 753 and U.S. 62. Pat said she had some GPS issues on her way south from Columbus and ended up taking U.S. 62 to S.R. 753 to McCoppin Mill Road.
Being a former surveyor, I offered that U.S. 62 and S.R. 753 did not intersect. Pat insisted she turned onto Route 753 just outside Washington Court House. As it turns out, she was right. So was I (sort of, as in an “I’ll do anything not to be proved wrong” way).
OK. Routes 62 and 753 do meet between Washington Court House and Bloomingburg, but I don’t think they intersect. Of course, I could be wrong. And yes, I should have known better. I just could not envision 62 and 753 coming together, but they do.
A tip of the cap to all the volunteers and judges and those who entered this year’s Smokin’ in the Hills. If you haven’t been to either of the first two competitions, do yourself a favor and plan to attend next year. It’s a fun event. Bring an appetite.
For complete results of this year’s competition, go to: https://www.kcbs.us/event/7784/smokin-in-the-hills.
By the way, what a tremendous improvement in the office of executive director of the Highland County Visitors Bureau. Glad some of the board members finally opened their eyes to the former “director.”
* * *
Speaking of congratulations, how about the 2018 Hillsboro Indians varsity football team coached by Jack O’Rourke?
The Indians are off to an impressive 5-0 start and have endured several game delays due to lightning sightings since week two.
As has been customary this season, the Indians had a lightning delay again on Friday, Sept. 21 during their homecoming game against Clermont Northeastern.
During the delay, a group of fans had congregated at the east end zone. I was asked how many games Hillsboro might win this year. My initial reply was to ask me after the Chillicothe game on Friday, Sept. 28. My second thought was that after impressive wins over Western Brown, Goshen, East Clinton and Williamsburg, the Tribe did not play its best football against CNE. The sideline atmosphere seemed to me to be a bit lethargic.
Maybe that was due to a combination of the weather and the homecoming activities. Regardless, the Indians will need their A game come Friday night. The Richards Memorial fans need to make their presence known, too, early and often. Don’t sit back on your heels this week.
This is my 29th consecutive year of covering some sort of sports, mostly high school and college, and I can say that this Hillsboro football team has been fun to watch through the first half of the season. I’m hoping their on-field success continues.
As one who knows that it all begins up front with the offensive and defensive lines, it’s evident that Coach O’Rourke’s linemen are working hard. When fans see those great runs from backs like Deon Burns, Josh Keets, Mark Gallimore and QB Mason Swayne, rest assured that the men in the trenches made it happen.
The same applies on the defensive side. If the respective lines win their battles, there’s a good chance the team wins, turnovers notwithstanding. You cannot turn the ball over against good teams. Period. (And yes, The HCP online game photos often feature the linemen for that very reason.)
The Indians will need a good crowd and a lively one this week against the 4-1 Chillicothe Cavaliers, who are the defending FAC (Frontier Athletic Conference) champions. The Cavaliers defeated Logan, 7-6, in overtime on Friday, Sept. 21.
Thus far, the Indians have played solid defense with a strong, four-pronged running attack mixed in with a few passes. One of these weeks, the passing game might surprise an unsuspecting defense.
* * *
When you can’t attend the games, follow the Hillsboro Indians on WSRW 101.5 FM with Stew Gardner and David Hilliard calling the action live throughout the 2018 season. The games are also on the 101.5 iHeart Radio website at https://wsrw.iheart.com.
From a personal perspective, Dave and Stew are a great team. They may be at their best in the fourth quarter of an already-delayed game when penalty flags outnumber players.
And leave it to Dave Hilliard to make observations like this one when they announced the Reds’ score against the Miami Marlins, and Dave noted: “I bet there aren’t more than 10 people at that game.”
He wasn’t off by much.
Let’s hope the Indians can continue their winning ways in the second half of the 2018 season. The first half has been a lot of fun.
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.
Congratulations, too, to Ale Yeah BBQ (the reserve champion) of Delaware, Ohio with head cook Chris Pannell.
Congratulations are also in order for Highland County Visitors Bureau Director Destiny Bryson, who served as a co-coordinator of the event this year – and last. For those who don’t know, Destiny works on Smokin’ in the Hills almost year-round. She promotes the event through local media, social media, public speaking and of course, with the Kansas City Barbeque Society, which sanctions the competition.
On Saturday, I enjoyed a very pleasant conversation with one of the judges of the 2017 and 2018 contests. Patricia Bendick, a Kansas City Barbeque Society-certified judge from Worthington, Ohio, was back for the second straight year.
We happened to meet for a few minutes near the boat docks just below the old lake restaurant off Lucas Lane.
Pat praised Destiny’s efforts and said she enjoyed the event last year and was happy to return as a judge. We also had a bit of a debate about S.R. 753 and U.S. 62. Pat said she had some GPS issues on her way south from Columbus and ended up taking U.S. 62 to S.R. 753 to McCoppin Mill Road.
Being a former surveyor, I offered that U.S. 62 and S.R. 753 did not intersect. Pat insisted she turned onto Route 753 just outside Washington Court House. As it turns out, she was right. So was I (sort of, as in an “I’ll do anything not to be proved wrong” way).
OK. Routes 62 and 753 do meet between Washington Court House and Bloomingburg, but I don’t think they intersect. Of course, I could be wrong. And yes, I should have known better. I just could not envision 62 and 753 coming together, but they do.
A tip of the cap to all the volunteers and judges and those who entered this year’s Smokin’ in the Hills. If you haven’t been to either of the first two competitions, do yourself a favor and plan to attend next year. It’s a fun event. Bring an appetite.
For complete results of this year’s competition, go to: https://www.kcbs.us/event/7784/smokin-in-the-hills.
By the way, what a tremendous improvement in the office of executive director of the Highland County Visitors Bureau. Glad some of the board members finally opened their eyes to the former “director.”
* * *
Speaking of congratulations, how about the 2018 Hillsboro Indians varsity football team coached by Jack O’Rourke?
The Indians are off to an impressive 5-0 start and have endured several game delays due to lightning sightings since week two.
As has been customary this season, the Indians had a lightning delay again on Friday, Sept. 21 during their homecoming game against Clermont Northeastern.
During the delay, a group of fans had congregated at the east end zone. I was asked how many games Hillsboro might win this year. My initial reply was to ask me after the Chillicothe game on Friday, Sept. 28. My second thought was that after impressive wins over Western Brown, Goshen, East Clinton and Williamsburg, the Tribe did not play its best football against CNE. The sideline atmosphere seemed to me to be a bit lethargic.
Maybe that was due to a combination of the weather and the homecoming activities. Regardless, the Indians will need their A game come Friday night. The Richards Memorial fans need to make their presence known, too, early and often. Don’t sit back on your heels this week.
This is my 29th consecutive year of covering some sort of sports, mostly high school and college, and I can say that this Hillsboro football team has been fun to watch through the first half of the season. I’m hoping their on-field success continues.
As one who knows that it all begins up front with the offensive and defensive lines, it’s evident that Coach O’Rourke’s linemen are working hard. When fans see those great runs from backs like Deon Burns, Josh Keets, Mark Gallimore and QB Mason Swayne, rest assured that the men in the trenches made it happen.
The same applies on the defensive side. If the respective lines win their battles, there’s a good chance the team wins, turnovers notwithstanding. You cannot turn the ball over against good teams. Period. (And yes, The HCP online game photos often feature the linemen for that very reason.)
The Indians will need a good crowd and a lively one this week against the 4-1 Chillicothe Cavaliers, who are the defending FAC (Frontier Athletic Conference) champions. The Cavaliers defeated Logan, 7-6, in overtime on Friday, Sept. 21.
Thus far, the Indians have played solid defense with a strong, four-pronged running attack mixed in with a few passes. One of these weeks, the passing game might surprise an unsuspecting defense.
* * *
When you can’t attend the games, follow the Hillsboro Indians on WSRW 101.5 FM with Stew Gardner and David Hilliard calling the action live throughout the 2018 season. The games are also on the 101.5 iHeart Radio website at https://wsrw.iheart.com.
From a personal perspective, Dave and Stew are a great team. They may be at their best in the fourth quarter of an already-delayed game when penalty flags outnumber players.
And leave it to Dave Hilliard to make observations like this one when they announced the Reds’ score against the Miami Marlins, and Dave noted: “I bet there aren’t more than 10 people at that game.”
He wasn’t off by much.
Let’s hope the Indians can continue their winning ways in the second half of the 2018 season. The first half has been a lot of fun.
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.