Dateline: October 3, 2002

Amarillo wagon wins 8th annual cookoff 

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The Weems Cattle Co. Wagon of Amarillo took home top honors during the eighth annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff last Saturday.

Donley County’s JA Ranch also did very well this year, taking home first place wins for the Best Meat, the Best Potatoes, and Overall Cooking. The JA received a fourth place win in the Dessert category also.

The cookoff, which benefits the Saints’ Roost Museum, was called the best ever by museum board members. Tickets for the authentic Chuckwagon supper sold out by early Saturday morning. Extra tickets were printed and divided amongst the wagons along with additional food to meet the high demand. Officials estimate more than 1,000 people attended the daylong event.

“I thought it was wonderful,” said Tommye Duncan, one of the organizers of the event. “We appreciated everyone who came and everyone who worked so hard to make it a success.”

Breakfast and lunch concessions were provided by the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce. A trade show was held throughout the day, and live entertainment was provided by local and area talent. Relatives of legendary cattleman and Chuckwagon inventor Charles Goodnight also were on hand for their annual family reunion.

The Clarendon College Theatre Department presented a melodrama, “The Rat Catcher’s Daughter or Death Valley Daze,” following the evening meal and awards presentations.

Museum board member Willard Skelton was recognized with a plaque for his years of dedicated service to the museum.

A cowboy church service closed the cookoff on Sunday morning.

Thirteen wagons competed in this year’s cookoff and served a menu of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, beans, and cobbler. Prizes totaling more than $3,000 were paid out to the winners.

Complete results are as follows:

Overall Wagon & Cooking: 1) Weems Cattle Co. of Amarillo, 2) Darcy Wagon of McLean, 3) Adamah / J Bar D of Amarillo, and 4) Flint Creek of Graham.

Overall Cooking: 1) JA Ranch of Clarendon, 2) Weems Cattle, 3) Break-Away Wagon of Stamford, and 4) Darcy.

Best Wagon Camp: 1) Flint Creek, 2) Darcy, 3) Adamah / J Bar D, and 4) Weems.

Best Meat: 1) JA Ranch, 2) Darcy, 3) Adamah / J Bar D, and 4) Break-Away.

Best Beans: 1) McFall Wagon of Pampa, 2) Weems, 3) Flint Creek, and 4) Encino Beans & Biscuits Wagon of Ozona.

Best Dessert: 1) Ericksdahl Cattle Co. of Stamford, 2) Uh Oh Ranch of Canyon, 3) Weems, and 4) JA Ranch.

Best Bread: 1) Break-Away, 2) 7W Ranch of Bowie, 3) Adamah / J Bar D, and 4) Quarter Circle KC of Lockney.

Best Potatoes: 1) JA Ranch, 2) Weems, 3) Ericksdahl, and 4) Encino.

Food judges this year were Virginia Patton, Carolyn Blackerby, Hillary McAnear, Freddie Jo Moreman, Carla Devin, Tex Selvidge, Chad Selvidge, Edwin Campbell, Jack Hall, and Mark C. White, all of Clarendon. Wagon judges were Shirley Creacy of Fritch, Billy D. Bowman of Estelline, and Bailey Reece of Canyon.

Other winners during Saturday’s activities were Nova Mooring of Clarendon, who won a pair of James Owens handmade boots; Wes Smith of Clarendon, who won a barbed wire wreath from Cornell’s Country Store; and Josh Burkhart from Oklahoma, who won a gift certificate from Saye’s.