Annual Barbecue Contest Is A ‘Labor Of Love’ For Eubanks
Barbecue Chairman Tonya Eubanks is pictured with MBN representatives Lori and Kyle Dixon and Lisa Jennings, during the Train Tracks Pork Attack BBQ Cooking Contest in Water Valley.
It’s hard to believe the very popular Train Tracks Pork Attack BBQ Cooking Contest, a big event at Water Valley’s Watermelon Carnival, is only eight years old. This project adds so much to this special weekend, and it just keeps growing every year. We owe this event’s beginnings to one chamber of commerce board member and subsequent president, Tonya Eubanks, also the 2016 recipient of the Braswell Hatcher Service Award.
When asked where the idea of adding a barbecue cooking contest originated, Tonya replied, “I thought about adding the barbecue to the carnival because, like all events, I think once they are up and running very successfully – which I thought the carnival was – you should add another element, and barbecue was what I came up with.”
She proposed the new project to the chamber board eight years ago and acknowledged their response was, “‘Sure,’ as long as I handled it!”
And handle it, she did! She hit the ground running by making a few phone calls to the MBN (Memphis Barbeque Network), one of the leading sanctioning bodies of barbecue contests in the world. The organization is dedicated to promoting and preserving the unique Memphis style of barbecue through education, support, and management. MBN officials assist event organizers in promoting, organizing, and conducting the sanctioned events in accordance with MBN standards.
They invited Tonya to some of the other barbecue contests in the area where she watched and learned, helping at a few contests, and then was ready to begin a contest here at home.
“I added the ‘Taster’s Choice’ (category) to our contest, which was something others were not doing, so people at the carnival could taste famous championship barbecue and be involved.”
Through the contest, Tonya has met some really great people, and she’s learned a lot about barbecue. She also added the appropriately-named “Anything Watermelon” category to the contest “to make ours different from others.”
Did I mention how this barbecue contest has grown? Tonya started with seven teams, seven years ago. She had 24 last year in 2016 and would love to have 30 teams one year! She has a committee of folks to assist her now on contest days, but Tonya still does the advance planning, a true labor of love for her.
And how about the origin of the name for the local contest?
Working together, Tonya and Rob Ferguson with Oxford Printwear came up with the Train Tracks Pork Attack name and logo, in honor of Water Valley’s railroad history.
What about the interest this contest has created for Water Valley and the Watermelon Carnival?
Tonya explains it best: “Most of the teams had never been to Water Valley till they participated in the contest. They all say wonderful things about our town, our friendly citizens, and the Watermelon Carnival.”
