Another American Royal is in the books. This year was one of the largest in the history of the American Royal with 500 .JPG)
teams from across the nation. This event just does not span the United States, there were teams from Jamaica and England competing. On Friday night, SMT had the traditional family/friends/sponsor dinner. Over 100 of our supports came out in full SMT gear. The menu this year included a ham that Dale and
Sharon B., ribs, pulled pork, cole slaw, beans and of course, Nun's famous egg rolls and crab ragon. The end to a perfect evening was the fireworks. The fireworks over the American Royal building with the patriotic songs playing made everyone pause for a few minutes and give thanks.
Another new feature this year was the live webcast with HotWiredBBQ. Gary was featured twice on the live broadcast. This was truly an honor to be chosen from so many. Many family and friends was able to see the live feed from the Royal. The awards for both the invitational and open were also broadcasted live. 
As the sun rose in the eastern sky, you could see the light blue haze of smoke and smell the bbq in the air. Although SMT was not part of the invitational, Saturday, we were still thrilled to be part of the Royal. SMT spent most of the morning preparing to turn in side dishes and dessert. Side dishes consisted of beans, potatoes, vegetables and dessert. SMT hopes of repeating as 2nd reserve grand champion in sides made the wait until Sunday a hard 
one. It was nice this year to have a little free time to enjoy the sites and see other teams, but we would have preferred to be in the Invitational. When the sun dropped over the horizon, it was time for the team to gear up for the Open on Sunday.
Sunday was brisk and cool as the sun came up. There was excitement in the air as this was the day 500 teams dreamed they would be crowned the American Royal Grand Champion. Although the brisket and pork were already on the smoker for several hours, it was time for ribs and then chicken. Sausage would soon follow. As the turn in time approached, SMT refined our game plan. The walk to the turn in area was approximately 7 minutes. We had to make sure boxes were ready in time to give Nun and Tracy plenty of time to make the long walk. During turn-ins, Tracy was always 3 steps ahead of Nun to clear traffic. What a great job the two of them do. We could not do what we do without them.
After all the turn-ins was in, it was time for a short break and a long wait until the awards. All the teams were busy trying to get things cleaned and packed up before awards. It looked like thousands of busy bees working to get things done. Finally it was time for awards. The following are the results for SMT.