‘Men Who Grill’ Takes Over Downtown Durango


The Purgatory Devils wooed the judges with their selection of hot wings, Deviled Eggs, and Devil’s Food Cake, to win the highly-coveted Judges’ Choice Award.


The Smoking Armadillos came back for a second year to win the Peoples’ Choice for their tasty chili rellenos and ribs.


125 Years and Still Smoking dished-up chicken satay and ribs, with “smoke” coming out of their top-hats to garner the Grill Stars Award.


Men Who Grill Title Sponsor Bank of Colorado’s team, The Zebra Refs, served traditional game-time fare – chicken wings and sausage.

 
The High Country Cookers brought their own unique grill, an “elk” that bugled when the coals got hot enough!


It was luau-time at Morehart Malibu Mambos’ booth which featured Hawaiian-style mini-burgers with mango and grilled jalapenos.

The annual Men Who Grill fundraiser to benefit WRC, held in downtown Durango on Saturday, June 2, 2007, was an unprecedented success with more than 500 attendees and sixteen grill teams — the most this event has seen in its four-year history! Between the Cajun-inspired skewers, home-made sausage, grilled pork wraps, and baby-back ribs, there was no shortage of meat. Stuffed jalapenos, deviled eggs, grilled peaches, and Devil’s Food Cake were also on-hand for those who had their fill of beef, pork, chicken, and seafood! Local favorites The Badly Bent entertained the crowd with their high-energy bluegrass music, and everyone was treated to free, old-fashioned soda from Zuberfizz. All the creative grill teams put up a good “food fight” to win awards in a variety of categories (see below). Men Who Grill raised more than $10,000 for WRC programs and services. WRC thanks all who helped make this event a phenomenal success!

TEAMS

  • Judges’ Choice (best overall): Purgatory Devils (Durango Mountain Resort) – Mike Hammes, Chris Jones, Scott Warren
  • Peoples’ Choice (best overall): Smoking Armadillos (Armadillo Storage Co.) – Jason Fisher, Ben Fisher, Matt Bong, Wade Slingerland, "Catfish" Kohler, Gene Giddings
  • 1st Place Cuisine: Smoking Armadillos (Armadillo Storage Co.)
  • 2nd Place Cuisine: Bubba Boudreaux’s Bayou Boys (AKA Energy) – Chip Burkett, Dennis Casto, Ray Kane
  • 1st Place Theme/Costumes: Morehart Malibu Mambos (Morehart Chevrolet) – Janet Madsen, Sean Onions, Joe Mayer, Bill Hanson, Fred Pinkney, Austin Whitt, Larry Broderick
  • 2nd Place Theme/Costumes: Hicks ‘N Chicks (New Country Auto) – Don Lathrop, Lu Frame, Paul Raine, Dennis McCarthy, CC Cowan, Jeremy D'Aleo
  • Grill Stars Award (showmanship): 125 Years and Still Smoking (First National Bank) – Paul Broderick, Mike Sarti, Steve Short, Matt Kelly,
  • Ladies’ Choice (WRC Staff Pick): Women’s Sausage Source – Roland Mora, Rob Harries, Joe Booth, Jim Philippon
  • Talladega Bites – Andy Dougherty, Tim Hawkins
  • The Sliders (Directory Plus) – Robert Whitson, Paul Beckler, Dennis Hanson
  • High Country Cookers – Jim McVean, Charles Rigby
  • Cooney's Tailgate Party (Cooney and Associates) – Tim Cooney, John Sheehan, Dan Beard, John Gillam, Bruce Andrea
  • The Zebra Refs (Bank of Colorado) – Jason Portz, Christopher Ross, Robert Ramaniak, Kyle Cox
  • Life's a Beach BBQ/Bikers – Zachariah Beach, David Lubrant, Greg Snyder
  • All-American Heroes Team (99.7 The Point) – Ryan Nutter, Dina Davis
  • Gansta Wraps – Berry Mullennix, Randy Nickels, Greg Dinger
  • BBQ Buccaneers (Habitat for Humanity and Kiwanis Club of Durango) – Connie Imig, Dick Imig, Mark Simon

Event Sponsors
99.7 The Point
 
 
   

Garrh’s Inc.
Steamworks Brewing
Zuberfizz
Nature’s Oasis
LewisTrue Value Mercantile
Sundog Builders Inc.
Durango Party Rentals
Bob’s Johns
Southwestern Beverage
Southwest Ice
Sunnyside Meats
ColorQuest Printing and Graphics
Julie Ward
Loryn Kasten

Special Thanks

MUSIC: The Badly Bent
TICKET SALES: Canyon Music
LOGISTICS: Dean Brookie Architecture and the City of Durango Compliance Department
JUDGES: Ann Butler of the Durango Herald, John Cohen of the Durango Area Tourism Office, Beth Warren of KSUT