Sponsors – Page 2 – Swamp Boys BBQ

2015 – A Season to be Thankful For!

BBQ Sauce, Big Poppa Smokers, Classes, Contests, Fundraising, General, Sponsors No Responses »

Dec 292015

Swamp Boys BBQ Team was blessed to have another fun, productive, and charitable year in 2015. We were able to compete in 26 contests, in AL, AZ, FL, GA, NC, TN, TX, and The Hague, Netherlands! I travelled over 24,000 miles, all in the name of barbecue!

We won 2 Grand Championships and 4 Reserve Grand Championships, and a combined 12 top-5 overall finishes.

FBA Florida State Champion 2015

We repeated as the Florida BBQ Association Florida State Champions, and finished 3rd in the FBA Team of the Year race, giving us 10 years of consecutive top 5 finishes.

On the Swamp Boys Q School front I was able to teach 5 classes in FL, IA, AZ and The Hague, NL. I truly enjoy teaching the art and science of BBQ to whoever will listen, wherever they are!

Q School Grads in Netherlands!

Swamp Boys BBQ Sauce sales also set a record, with 4 of the top 5 KCBS Teams of the Year being customers! We were also able to be accepted into the “Fresh From Florida” campaign, as a truly Florida product. I fully expect 2016 to set more records as the good word spreads.

We’re Fresh From Florida!

Through the help of the Swamp Boys Nation (all of you!) we were able to raise almost $7,000 to give directly to 2 dear barbecue friends who each experienced extreme health emergencies in ’15, to help pay their medical bills.

Robin (L) is now a Breast Cancer Survivor!

Jim (R) is recovering from Acute Pancreatitus

And as an outgoing member of Big Poppa Smokers Elite Team, I am honored to be able to present our local kidsPack USA a check for $1,000 from BPS. I regret that this will be my last act as a BPS Elite Team, as the criteria to belong has changed for 2016. However I am extremely thankful for the opportunity I have had to be a part of this charitable group of barbecuers. I hope to be able to continue to support kidsPack through other avenues in 2016.

kidsPack Lakeland

Of course all of this was possible with the help of my sponsors, who have provided me with the best products available: Deep South Smokers, Big Poppa Smokers, Compart Duroc Family Farms, Nature’s Own Hardwood Charcoal, Grizzly Coolers, GrillGrates, Butcher BBQ, BBQ Guru, 3 Eyz BBQ. I fully recommend all of these products with no reservations. Please talk to me if you have questions about any of them. I will be happy to help! And most of all thank you to my family! Without the love and support of my wife and daughters none of this could have happened. I love you guys, forever.

Meet My Sponsors: Grizzly Coolers

Sponsors 1 Response »

Jun 232015

I’ve been blessed in that I have been able to secure product sponsorships from companies that I use and believe in. Over the next couple of months I am going to highlight each one and share why I chose them and what makes them great. This first installment will be on Grizzly Coolers; they have been a Swamp Boys sponsor since early 2013.

I rely heavily on my coolers. At any given pro Barbecue contest I will have over $500 in top quality meats, sauces, injections, drinks, and food that I need for the weekend. My coolers have to hold ice and keep my stuff cold. The longer the better. The less ice I have to buy means more money in my pocket. In the beginning I used the coolers from the mega-mart stores because they were inexpensive. Of course I learned you get what you pay for in coolers. Driving 12 hours to a contest with the cooler in the back of my truck, and finding the cooler has nothing but water, soggy meat, and a little ice is not a good thing. Having to stop midway to buy and add more ice is also not a good thing. That doesn’t happen with a Grizzly Cooler. My Grizzly 150 Cooler stays in the bed of my truck 24/7, and has a reported ice retention of over 11 days. I personally have experienced ice retention of over a week in my travels, and that is more than good enough for me. It very well may have continued to 11 days but I quit keeping track. In the black, hot bed of my truck in the FL sun, and opening and closing daily. I don’t need any bad surprises when I open the lid, and I don’t get any with my Grizzly Cooler.

Durability is another important factor in my Grizzly Coolers. The mega-mart coolers would last me a season if I was lucky. I used to have a cooler junkyard in the back yard filled with coolers with broken hinges, latches, and cracked bottoms and lids. Not any more. Grizzly Coolers come with a LIFETIME WARRANTY. Not 1 year like the mega-mart coolers. Not 5 years like that company based on a fictional snow creature. Lifetime Warranty.

And the final reason I chose to align myself and Swamp Boys with Grizzly Coolers is they are Made in America. If there are 2 similar products with similar prices, and one is made in the Philippines supporting their economy, and the other is made in America supporting our economy, it’s a no-brainer. Be American, act American, buy American. Buy Grizzly.

Big Poppa Smokers, kidsPACK Donation & Swamp Boys Nation

Big Poppa Smokers, Sponsors No Responses »

Jan 152015

Just over a year ago I was invited by Sterling Ball (aka Big Poppa) to become one of Big Poppa Smokers “Elite Teams”. It was an honor then and one that I am still just as proud of today. In fact even more so. You see besides having access to the best rubs and barbecue stuff on the planet, the Elite Teams get to be a part of something that is even bigger. Something that is close to Big Poppa’s heart and believe it or not, even more important than barbecue – helping children in need.

At the end of the year Big Poppa Smokers makes a minimum of a $1,000 donation to each team’s chosen children’s charity on behalf of the team. I am proud to announce that last week $1,000 (of $1,500 total) was donated to my chosen charity, kidsPACK.org. This privately funded group packs food for specially identified children to take home on the weekends, and serves as sustenance when they otherwise would have none. All right here in Polk County. And because of the donations we were able to collect earlier in the year, and the money that BPS has given, kidsPACK was able to include the school where I teach in their weekly service. I am blessed to be a part of this. A sincere thank you to Sterling and Big Poppa Smokers for making this possible. Also a sincere thank you to all of the people who answered my call for donations earlier in the year (aka Swamp Boys Nation). It is a great feeling to be associated with people who care, I love you guys.

Swamp Boys – Big Poppa Smokers Elite Team

Big Poppa Smokers, Sponsors 2 Responses »

Jul 112014

I was honored when Swamp Boys was invited to be a part of the Big Poppa Smokers Elite Team. For those who aren’t familiar with it, Sterling Ball aka Big Poppa Smokers formed the team of like minded pro barbecuers from across the country who believe in Camaraderie, Collaboration, Competition, and Children’s Charity. It’s a great group that I am proud to be a part of.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that one of the main goals for the Elite Teams is to raise money for children’s charities. That is something Big Poppa Smokers has always been involved with on a big scale, and now they are giving us an opportunity to help out as well.

At the beginning of the year, each team chooses a charity that they will be competing for. I have chosen our local kidsPack. In short they help feed the less fortunate children here in Polk County. Surprisingly, almost three in every four students enrolled in Polk County public schools qualify for free or reduced-priced meals. In a Gallup poll, Polk County was ranked as the 3rd worst county in the country for child hunger. There is lots of need right here in our own community.

So at the beginning of the season, Big Poppa Smokers starts each team off with $1,000 in their “account”. This is not for the team, but actually represents the minimum amount that team will be able to donate to their children’s charity at the end of the season. All during the season the Elite Teams will be competing against each other via points earned at each contest they cook, similar to team of the year points. At the end of the season the team with the most points will have an additional $5,000 dollars added by Big Poppa Smokers, making the winners minimum donation $6,000. I say minimum because BPS also awards each category winner for the season $2,500 to their account for donation. So in all BPS is putting up $30,000 for the Elite Teams to battle for, which all goes to children’s charities! It’s a win-win: the Elite Teams get to battle all year in a virtual head to head format for bragging rights and raise awareness for their charities, and children’s charities across the country will benefit from the donations. Each one will receive a minimum of $1,000!

To keep up with the race, visit the BPS Elite Teams: Children’s Charity Points Race website. It’s always being updated so check back often. And soon it will have a map showing what the teams are doing to help kids through BBQ. It’s a great program and Swamp Boys is proud to be a part of it.

Swamp Boys Q School a Hit

Big Poppa Smokers, Classes, General, Sponsors 4 Responses »

Mar 042014

Swamp Boys Q School in Clermont FL, 03/02/14

We had a group of 27 passionate barbecuers converge in Clermont FL this past weekend to take part in my Q School. Many were from FL but others travelled from GA, SC, NC, OH, and PA to attend. We were blessed with beautiful weather and lots of fellowship while we discussed the finer points of barbecuing at all levels. Everyone seemed to have a great time and really enjoy themselves. Expect to see some amazing food coming from these cooks in the near future!

A special thanks to our Q School sponsors who donated their award-winning products for everyone in the class: Big Poppa Smokers and Simply Marvelous, Butcher BBQ, Wicked Que, Bad Byron’s Butt Rub, 3 Eyz and Swamp Boys BBQ Sauce.

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