Page 28 - Barbecue News April 2020 Issue
P. 28

flying judge
BBQ PROFILES
  T. Michael Garrison
The Flying BBQ Judge mgarrison8@sbcglobal.net
  Anyone reading this
magazine certainly
understands there
are several groups
necessary to produce
a successful BBQ
competition. The
past three profiles
featured champi-
onship cook teams.
This month I will be
profiling one of the
BBQ World's most re-
spected Master
Judges. Florida's own
Gordon Gilbert has
judged more than
300 BBQ contests
and geographically
these have spanned
the continental United States. I have had the privilege to judge with Gordon numer- ous times in past years and have gained a great deal of respect for him and his vast experience in the BBQ World. However Gor- don has given back in so many ways to the community where he lives, to the organiza- tions that he supports, and his overall lifestyle is something to admire. His judg- ing of KCBS events exceeds 100, and for the Florida BBQ Association he is currently at 204. Gordon is joined by one of the few 200 contest judges, Rick DiMaggio. (photo) He is also an American Pie Council Judge. Gor- don is in his element with a rib in his hand. (photo)
Gordon and his family moved to Florida from Ohio in 1965 in support of his wife's health. While visiting his Daughter and Son-in-Law in Memphis he hadn't realized
that they were com- petition BBQ afi- cionados. They invited him to join them at Memphis in May where they would be competing. The contest was short of judges and Gordon was recruited to judge at the last minute. He loved it and was hooked. He has judged that event three times. There were not many BBQ events in Florida so he started looking for KCBS contests around the
country. He had numerous places he always wanted to visit so he started judging BBQ events in those locations. He judged in Washington State, about as far from Florida as you can get, in the Continental Unites States. Also, Washington D.C, South Dakota, Utah, Oregon, Ohio, Maine, Col- orado, Tennessee, and Alabama. He judged a lot around the Southeast as the travel was not as far. Around 2000 the Florida Bar- beque Association was ramping up with contests, primarily in Florida, and he be- came very active there. In the old days when you signed up to judge FBA, you judged, so he built his contest list pretty fast. When the American Pie Council (APC) began conducting the annual champi- onship contest in Florida, both Gordon and I qualified as judges for that organization. APC recruits judges from the BBQ ranks as they are trained to judge against standards,
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