The "Fall Classic" of the barbecue world, the American Royal, was held October 2-4, 2009. Smoke Me Tender BBQ team entered the Open and also qualified for the Invitational this year. There were 150 teams in the Invitational and 500 in the Open division.

Friday night, we hosted a party for family and friends. We had a special guest join us. Elvis 2 performed for us along with everyone else who walked by. This was a special treat and made our first American Royal experience one we will never forget. We were amazed of the magnitude of the event. The line to get in on Friday was truly something to see.

When the party guests left, the work for the team was just beginning - smoking all night for the Invitational competition on Saturday. On Saturday morning, Mike and Dotty cooked the most amazing breakfast. We would like to thank them for the breakfast, it gave us time to relax before turn-ins. In addition to the four meat categories, the kitchen in the camper was a busy place as the side dishes were prepared. Side dishes consisted of vegetables, beans and potatoes. We had our work cut out for us. We had two special runners for the American Royal. We would like to thank Nun and Tracy for making all of the runs on Saturday which was a total of seven.

After the judges and officials did their work, the teams all gathered for the awards ceremony. Due to the size and caliber of this competition, every entry was a Grand Champion-winning team, the SMT gang would not have been surprised if their name wasn't called at all for awards. So Gary almost jumped out of his skin when Smoke Me Tender was called up to receive 4th place for ribs and chicken came in at 16th. The other sanctioned meats didn't win an award, but Smoke Me Tender placed 17th overall. Team members were happy with these results due to going up against such stiff competition.

Saturday night, the smoker was fired up again to cook for the Open division. Sunday afternoon brought another awards ceremony. The beans, potatoes and vegetables were well-received by the judges and received individual ribbons and third place overall for sides. The team received a trophy and a cash award. The sanctioned meats - chicken, ribs, pork and brisket - together ranked 115th out of the field of 500 teams. So even though the dream of leaving the American Royal with the big money didn't come to pass, the team had a good time and some good placing.

Congratulations to Grand Champions Boondoggle, winning $12,500 from the American Royal and another $12,500 from Kingsford.