Many of you may remember an article I wrote a couple of years ago about how a man named Philo Farnsworth had changed how Americans, and in fact the world, prepared their food. Now I know that is not a household name (or even a barn yard name for that matter) but you do know his invention and everyone has had an affair with it at one time or another. You see ol’ Philo is considered the inventor of the television and without television we would not have had the pleasure of meeting The Galloping Gourmet, Julie Childs, Justin Wilson or all of the new stars of today on the Food Channel, The Travel Channel or The Food Network, and it goes on and on.

Watching these shows over the years has changed our way of thinking about food and how to prepare it. I love it and don’t miss a week without watching some sort of cooking show on the tube! That also goes for any show about BBQ or grilling outside.

There are an untold number of these shows with many centered around a BBQ cook off or competition. If you ever get the chance to watch a show featuring Myron Mixon from Adel GA, watch it. It is BBQ comedy! Myron has been a judge on BBQ Pitmasters for years and is quite entertaining. He earned that position by winning at Memphis in May many times. For you novices, that is the World Series of BBQ.

Given any weekend here in the South, you can find a BBQ competition within driving distance of the Conyers/Covington area. However, you just missed the one local event that has been held here in Conyers for the last two years. The event took place in the parking lot of the Rockdale Career Academy and was well attended by many BBQ teams from the South.

Keep your eye out for next year if you want to get up close and personal with some of the cooking teams. It is worth the trip.

Since you may have missed the event, I can help wet your whistle for next year. As I was walking the lot and visiting the teams, I ran into Mr. Marc Farris (of the Decatur Farris’s). It seems Mark retired and started visiting these competitions to film them for a TV show – thank you once again Philo! And as they say, one thing led to another. He now is the head of BBQTV and travels the country filming and posting on www.bbqtv.com. Yes, this is a TV show online. Ol’ Philo would be in shock if he could see what he started. In fact the week after our event Marc and his wife were headed to Phoenix to film there as well!

To see the recent Conyers’ competition, you can go to his website and click on the picture on his home page showing the Smokin’ Butts and Tires, Conyers, GA. I forgot to mention there was a car show on the grounds as well. There were plenty of things to do at this BBQ competition, for sure. Take a look around and see what you missed so you can plan for the 2024 event – it will be here before you know it.