Dateline: October 2, 2008

C4B Chuckwagon wins annual cookoff

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The C4B Chuckwagon Team of Amarillo took home top honors Saturday at the 14th annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff.

Led by head cook Randy Whipple, the C4B had the first place Wagon & Camp and placed second in Overall Cooking while racking up enough points to win the Best Overall award.

Cookoff Chairman Lindy Craft said early indications are that this year’s event was one of the best for the Museum.

“I personally thought it was the best in the three years since I’ve been on the board,” Craft said. “Everything really went smooth.”

A new Junior Cookoff the day before the big event was also a nice addition, Craft said.

“The Junior Cookoff was relaxed and fun, and the kids had a great time,” Craft said.

Nine young contestants were paired with experienced wagon teams to prepare potatoes for the cooks’ dinner Friday night. Cire Jauregue won first place with the C4B Chuckwagon Team. Chris Shults and the Barb Land & Cattle Co. were second, and Harley Jauregue and the McFall Wagon came in third.

Following the Junior Cookoff, an estimated 170 people enjoyed a delicious steak dinner Friday night on the museum grounds. The invitation-only event was held exclusively for Chuckwagon teams and members of the Museum and their families.

Of the 550 tickets that were available for Saturday’s main cookoff only ten remained when the event was over. Past competitions have run out of tickets, but Museum officials are not unhappy with ticket sales this year.

“In the past we gave away a lot of tickets with sponsorships,” said Cookoff Sponsorship Chairman Roger Estlack. “Last year as many as 130 tickets were made available to sponsors, but this year only eight tickets went to sponsors. That means higher ticket sales for the Museum even though we had ten tickets unsold. The result is a more successful fundraiser for the Museum.”

Concessions were provided by Boy Scout Troop 433. A trade show was held throughout the day, and live entertainment was provided. Museum tours were led by the Clarendon High School Junior Historians. Relatives of legendary cattleman and Chuckwagon inventor Charles Goodnight also were on hand for their annual reunion.

Eleven wagons served a menu of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, beans, and cobbler. Prizes totaling $3,250 were paid out to the winners.

Complete results were:

Overall Wagon & Cooking: 1) C4B Chuckwagon of Amarillo.

Overall Cooking: 1) JL Cattle Co. of Abilene, 2) C4B, 3) Gayland Ward Wagon of Dawn, and 4) Honey-Do-Spoiler Wagon of Pampa.

Best Wagon Camp: 1) C4B, 2) Cross Roads Chuckwagon of Midland, 3) CO Ranch of Quanah, and 4) JL Cattle.

Best Meat: 1) Bar H Dude Ranch of Clarendon, 2) CO Ranch, 3) T Half Circle Wagon of Silverton, and 4) JL Cattle.

Best Beans: 1) Gayland Ward, 2) T Half Circle, 3) Honey-Do-Spoiler, and 4) JL Cattle.

Best Dessert: 1) McFall Wagon of Pampa, 2) Honey-Do-Spoiler, 3) JL Cattle, and 4) C4B.

Best Bread: 1) JL Cattle, 2) Honey-Do-Spoiler, 3) CO Ranch, and 4) C4B.

Best Potatoes: 1) C4B, 2) JL Cattle, 3) Gayland Ward, and 4) Cocklebur Camp of Odessa.

Wagon Judges this year were selected by the teams from among themselves, and Food Judges were under the direction of Tashia Duncan.