David is a army veteran of the Vietnam conflict, where he was wounded in action and earned the Purple Heart. He supports the Military Order of the Purple Heart . Another friend of barbecue is Smoky Hale, the author of several fine books and tapes on barbecue. Smoky also maintains a great website for barbecue . Inside the judging area One of the event sponsors was the Seacoast Inn Hotel , a beautiful and surprisingly inexpensive hotel on the sand.
Every room overlooks the sand, surf and ocean.
The staff set up the judging area on the hotel's back deck, where the judges could relax in a calm environment to evaluate the entries. Almost all the judges were KCBS Certified Barbecue Judges, as were the four table captains under the watchful eyes of the KCBS Reps. With six categories plus the Kids Q, the event required dedication by all the judges. Without exception, the judges conducted themselves professionally. The scores showed that the judges carefully and accurately evaluated and scored the entries.