Three Rivers Festival

It was bittersweet at the Three Rivers Festival in Haselhurst, Georiga this past weekend, as it was the 9th and final festival to be hosted by Jim Sewell, in the small southern town.

Organizer Jim Sewell held back tears as he dropped the news on 23 Georgia Barbecue Association cook teams during Friday evening’s cooks’ meeting.

“I really struggled with this decision specifically because of the many fine people I have met by putting on this contest,” lamented Jim. ” I will always be grateful to those who supported our contest over the years.”

Doug and I are very sad about the demise of the Three Rivers Festival.

Our decision to participate in this contest, this year, was two main reasons:

1. We wanted to support our friend and fellow GBA member, Jim Sewell, and the dedication he has for the event.
2. Towns Bluff RV Park & Heritage Center is the most beautiful, tranquil, comfortable event site, on the GBA circuit.

With the onset of cook teams opting for larger cook rigs and recreational vehicles, Towns Bluff RV Park provides 30/50 amp power at all their sites (with the urging of Jim Sewell), water, a dump station, shaded spots, and easy accessibility.

Only other cook teams will appreciate the stress-less luxury of knowing it will be easy getting your rig parked and set up, on one of the  25 level campsites.

Most importantly, cook teams (and yes, even judges) can camp before the event and stay till Sunday, after the contest.

These competitions take a lot out of you and being able to stay an extra night to recuperate before a long drive home – AND – be able to sit and talk with our GBA family, is an added bonus for this contest.

READ MY FULL REVIEW OF THE CAMPGROUND HERE

Successful Competition

We thank Smoke Show, Weekend Warriors, Southern Hogs, Lang BBQ, Bubba Grills, and all other GBA family members who invited us and shared food with us Saturday night.

Visiting with our GBA friends was much nicer after hearing our name called twice during awards.

Finishing 8th in Pork;  7th in Ribs; and barely out of the top 10 in Loin was thrilling; especially with such tough competition.

NINE of the top twenty teams competing for the TEAM OF THE YEAR Championship were at this event!

WE FINISHED 8TH OVERALL!

Congratulations to Rescue Smokers for winning another Grand Championship.

Kudos to Matt Sapp and his Southern Hogs team for winning Reserve Grand Championship and GBA Team of the Year.

As for Smokin J’s Barbeque, we feel like we have finally got the groove on our new Stump Smoker but it is the end of the season – sigh.

Nevertheless, we will be well prepared when the 2018-2019 Georgia Barbecue Association season rolls around.

Of course, thank you to our sponsors…

Next up, is the GBA Awards banquet in August.

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