Page 11 - OCT 2020 Barbecue News Magazine

some more time in
Cannes, and some
of this was as a
traveling nurse.
She has been in
Bedford, Texas,
now for 11 years
and loves the Texas
lifestyle. She at-
tended a culinary
school in the
evenings and even
taught some cook-
ing classes to hone
her food skills. You
will see her name
on numerous SCA
events in Texas as
the contest rep.
She is affiliated not
only with SCA but also KCBS. She is truly a remarkable woman.
I had the distinct privilege of judging one of her double contests in Wichita Falls, Texas, last year. Michelle person- ally welcomed me to this event, made me feel at home. I even won a knife there, something I haven’t been able to do in Florida. What a pleasant experience. Her contests are exceptionally well organized, everything is ready in ad- vance, and thus the schedule comes off without a hitch. She immensely respects her cooking teams and her judges. She is adamant that a contest needs cooks, judges, and reps to come off as a smooth event. No question judging the second round of steaks was definitely at the judge's deci- sion, none of this questioning their role in the contest. The cooks have a too high degree of respect for her and like doing her contests. I will plan to judge her contests in the future. My son is a professor at Midwest State University, in Wichita Falls, so I have two beautiful grand daughters there to visit. Will undoubtedly do that contest again. Her fa- vorite weekend is Labor Day, and she almost always does a contest that weekend. Her events draw some of the top cooks in SCA. Recently she awarded the first place to Layne Holmes, who is number three at this time in the SCA cham- pionship standings. She did express some minor disap- pointment not to have earned a Master Judge in KCBS and a Prime Judge in SCA, but she became a rep before she could earn those credentials. Many of her contests are topped off with home-baked cookies from one of her long time judges. I can speak personally how nice that is to top off the afternoon of judging.
She has given so much back to the area of steak competi- tion and SCA. She has also been selected as the Rep of the Year by SCA for both 2018 and 2019. This means a lot to her because this honor results from votes from the cooks and judges. I had the opportunity to judge the 2019 World
Championship in Ft. Worth, and this was indeed a unique expe- rience. But no sur- prise, the judging operation was very well organized by Michelle, and she was front and center in the judge’s room both days. Everything ran smooth as silk. And as you would suspect, the top cooks in the World were competing here this week, and the top judges in SCA were at the judging tables. All of this led by the top Rep from
SCA. She does about 35 contests a year, so she is swamped, particularly with SCA's travel schedule. Both her parents live near her, so she has close family ties. She even presses them into service as they were working at the World Cham- pionship last year. Very nice people. If you ever have the opportunity to judge one of Michelle’s contests, I highly encourage you to do so. You will have a great experience, be involved with a very well-run competition, receive noth- ing but respect and recognition, and enjoy your day.
Honored to be official cutlery of
www.GunterWilhelm.com
OCTOBER 2020
BarbecueNews.com - 11