SAN ANGELO – The World Championship BBQ Goat Cookoff during Labor Day Weekend will be bigger this year.
The American Boer Goat Association (ABGA) will be part of the cookoff for the first time, thanks to its National Show Manager DeLaine Schwertner. Born and raised in Brady, Schwertner was the Brady/McCulloch County Chamber of Commerce executive vice president from 1999 to 2006.
“When I began working for ABGA, I knew immediately I wanted to join forces with the Brady/McCulloch County Chamber of Commerce to promote the World Championship BBQ Goat Cookoff,” Schwertner said. “Boer Goats are raised as meat goats, and I couldn’t think of a better platform to partner with than my own hometown cookoff.”
She reached out to Chamber President Taylor Hoffpauir. By the end of
the conversation, it was decided ABGA Executive Director Katie Carruth would be a judge.
The former Masked Rider at Texas Tech University, Carruth grew up around horses, cattle and goats. She graduated with an agriculture communications degree in 2003. Carruth was the agriculture reporter at Fox 34, the Fox affiliate TV station in Lubbock, while a student at Tech.
In 2016, she graduated with a master’s degree in sustainable agriculture and food security at Royal Agricultural University in England. Carruth thinks goats are the answer to many environmental, food access and economic challenges in the world today.
“It is an honor to be a judge at the World Championship BBQ Goat Cookoff,” Carruth said. “A big fan of goat meat, I’m looking forward to this event and tasting the different dishes.”
Schwertner agreed. She also serves as the Junior American Boer Goat Association (JABGA) coordinator and is thrilled to share this event with her colleagues and ABGA and JABGA members.
“This is sure to be a great event,” said Schwertner, who still remembers the sounds and smells from past cookoffs. “The mornings were cool, the afternoons blazing hot and the whole town had a smokey haze that let you know it was cookoff time. Every grocery store was packed. Everyone had their matching team shirts, and there wasn’t a folding chair or a hotel room to be found within 100 miles.”
She hopes this year’s cookoff will be imprinted in the memories of her colleagues and members as well. To help make that happen, the association is bringing in Backyard Green Films, an agricultural production company, to film and interview several locals about the event.
“We are thrilled to film this cookoff and help make it one for the books,” said Schwertner. “I can still remember when the cookoff was featured on the Food Network’s All-American Festivals. It was awesome getting to see Brady on national TV.”
She’s looking forward to seeing an ABGA member cook this year and would like to encourage residents to come out and enjoy the fun. “The cookoff has always been that event that draws everyone together. Come enjoy family one last time as summer comes to a close.”
