GC&SU to help train MIM barbecue judges
Barbecue has long been one of the South’s favorite pastimes, and a select group of Milledgeville residents and Georgia College & State University students, faculty, and staff will spend a day on the first floor of Atkinson Hall to potentially select the next world barbecue champion.
Organizers for the Memphis In May (MIM) organization will be in Milledgeville this Saturday for a barbecue judge training session.
This session is jointly sponsored by the Hospitality and Tourism Management program at GC&SU, and Dooly County Chamber of Commerce of Vienna, Ga., which sponsors the annual Big Pig Jig each October.
Dr. Jan Flynn, the Hospitality and Tourism Management program chairperson, as well as a barbecue judge for the last several years, talked about the main reason her department chose to sponsor this weekend’s session.
“That (contest in Columbus) led me to judging the barbecue contest in Vienna (The Pig Jig), and we were talking about the fact that judges need to be certified, and somebody has to sponsor the training,” said Flynn.
The May Festival is held in Memphis, Tenn. each spring, and sponsors the largest barbecue contest in the world. In addition, all teams who wish to participate in such a competition must earn a certain number of points.
According to Flynn, “They have a special set of rules, and a special way
of judging, and this is what it’s all about, is to teach people how to be judges, how to judge the Memphis in May way.”
Flynn added that this training session was also a way to promote tourism in Georgia.
“We (the Hospitality and Tourism department) got involved in it primarily because it fits under the tourism banner,” she said. “Barbecue contests bring in a lot of dollars into the state of Georgia.”
The training costs $50, and is limited to the first 50 entries. All checks should be made payable to Memphis In May Organization. For more information, contact Dr. Jan Flynn at 445-2569.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 13 2002. Filed under News.
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