The sizzle of the grills, the fragrance of roasting meat, the smiling faces of hundreds of people. It could only be Men Who Grill, one of the main fundraisers for the Women’s Resource Center.
More than 500 people attended the event in Buckley Park on Saturday. This was the first year actually in the park instead of on the street in front of it, and the grass and shade made it cooler and more comfortable for everyone.
I continued my unbroken streak as a judge – I’ve managed to score one of the sweetest volunteer gigs in town, as my co-judge Tim Walsworth, the executive director of the Business Improvement District, put it – since the event began. That’s 11 straight years for those who are keeping count.
Walsworth and I were veterans, but this year we welcomed two newcomers, Jenn Bartlett from the Boys and Girls Club of La Plata County and Carley Snider, co-owner and chocolatier of Animas Chocolate Co. They brought a fresh eye – and fresh taste buds – to the judges’ table.
The Kirk James Band added to the occasion with some smokin’ hot blues.
But in the end, it was all about the teams, those generous folks who stepped up to plan a menu and, in most cases, cook for days in preparation, then spend a hot summer day over an even hotter grill, all for a good cause. They created quite a challenge for the judges.
The Honeyville and Honey House Distillery impressed both the attendees and the judges, taking home the two top prizes, Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice awards. They served beef and pork meatballs with either chokecherry-chipotle or honey barbecue sauces as well as a pork kebab with grilled peppers and pineapple served with Apricot Habañero Jam.
But that’s just the savory part. They also served vanilla ice cream with grilled bananas served with both Chocolate Buzz and bourbon-infused caramel sauces. Then they added a refreshing beverage (for those 21 and older), using Colorado Honey bourbon mixed with muddled mint and basil with Chokecherry Lime Mixer.
As if that weren’t enough, Honeyville added extra touches, a little plastic bee in the ice cream and plates and napkins resplendent with our little pollenating friends. Katelyn Bowie, the daughter of Robert Bowie and Vicki Vandegrift, broke out her honeybee outfit again and busily worked the booth with her parents. (Come on, I had to go there.)
You don’t offer such an extensive menu without some significant man – and woman – power. Danny and Sheree Culhane, Kevin and Sarah Culhane, Todd Vandegrift, Adam Bergal, Andy Roach and a Bank of Colorado contingent, the booth’s sponsor, including Jason Portz, Cody Johnston and Jonathan Donnaway, did not stop buzzing all day.
Even CEO Gary Derck turned out to help the Durango Mountain Resort Bull Run Grill team win the Golden Spatula for Best Cuisine. The team also wins the unofficial most exotic menu, as it featured sliders made with buffalo, topped with Gorgonzola and Thai chili sauce; ground camel with Muenster and Creole mustard; Wagyu, also known as Kobe, beef burgers with cheddar and ketchup; kangaroo with lemon-basil aioli; as well as boar and elk sliders, but I got the sauces on my notes, so I don’t know what they were.
The other team members were Dan Furlong, Mark Sieter, Tyler Silvernail, Andy Watson and John Miller.
And Durango Urgent Care, also known as the Serial Grillers, took the Silver Spatula for Best Cuisine with their smoky barbecue chicken breast, a superb ribeye steak and homemade potato salad and beans. Their team was Bryan Vincent, Mike Anderson, Holly Anderson, Martha Gowin and Cheryl Ryser.
I’m the one who gave the announcer the winners, and for some reason (perhaps an overheated brain?), I left off the Best Pork winners, so I’m going to start with them next. The REMAX/Pinnacle Durango Dynasty team won for a green-chile stuffed pork roast that was superb.
Now, in no particular order:
Golden Fork for Costume: Backcountry Experience for Eat Crow. Not only were there a plethora of feathers, they attached black gloves to their shoes so the fingers looked like bird feet and stayed on theme with their food, a “crow’s leg” with blueberry barbecue sauce served in a nest of grated cabbage, with a few chocolate chips at the side for droppings. Very clever.
Silver Fork for Costume: Durango Motor Co., which took us out to the ballgame with pennants, booth personnel in baseball jerseys and caps and even their menu, sliders with green chiles, a chorizo sausage with slaw and the Best Vegetarian winner, fried sweet pickles.
Best Beef: X Rock/Alpine team whose Love Meat Tender 1950s Soda Shop was impressive, created an even more impressive meatcone. Served in a waffle cone, it was the took-two-days-to-prepare the mole sauce that put it over the top.
Best Fowl: Out of the chicken wings galore, Wagon Wheel Liquor’s We Will Surprise, had crispy skin and tender meat.
Best Seafood: Smokin’ Hot Brats sponsored by Monica Ellis, served a delicious shrimp.
Best Dessert: AVL Property Management and Rent A Man scored big with the grilled ricotta pound cake topped with a caramel creme fraiche and berry compote. Yum.
Best Grilling Under the Influence: Smokin’ Armadillos/Armadillo Storage were back with their ribs, but they won for the bourbon in the sauce. And the 27-ingredient beans were memorable.
Spiciest Food: Conoco Phillips and the Born in the Que-S-A team by a factor of about three. Their slow-grilled, five-chile wings had us burning in a different way.
Team Spirit: 99X and American General Media Team because they bring it every year, and this year they really stepped up their grilling game. The smoked macaroni and cheese with green chiles, and bacon was delish. And the watermelon was so refreshing with all the meat.
Ladies’ Choice: The Wells Group was the staff of the Women’s Resource Center’s choice as a longtime supporter and energetic team.
The event raised in the ballpark of $18,000 for the center’s work. Its goal is to help women and families thrive in La Plata County by providing resources and referrals to services, low-cost legal assistance for family court matters, scholarships for college and certification programs to improve economic stability, workshops to help girls find their confidence and passion and ... visit www.durangowrc.org to learn more and donate.
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Celebrating their birthdays in the heart of their Gemini sign are Tracy Zellitti, John Kirchner, Amie Hotter, Pat May, Ron McKay, Kelly Becker, Lauren Cotgageorge, Chris Dunker, Marjorie Appel, John DeLeo, Ethan Ryan, Michael Fusco, Nancy Stevens, Tom Williamson, Lauren Wolfe, Julie McCallister, Austin Brown, Hans Hartman, Finn McGrath, Cathy Schadt, Phyllis Stone, Larry Turner, Stella Bierrenkott and Rap Fairley.
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You’d have to be a first time Neighbors reader to not know that yours truly loves books, everything from the classics to mysteries. So, as far as I am concerned, the La Plata County Historical Society could not have chosen two better honorees for its Community Heritage Awards than the Durango Public Library and Andrea Avantaggio and Peter Schertz, the owners of Maria’s Bookshop.
They were recognized at a dinner held in late May at the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks Lodge No. 507. Tables were decorated with books of all sorts (naturally), which both served as conversation starters and were for sale at the “DIY Booksale.”
The pie auction, as has become a tradition, went for jaw-dropping amounts for flavors such as pecan caramel apple, seasonal fruit, strawberry-rhubarb, chocolate chess, apple-cranberry and tart rhubarb. Animas Museum Curator Jan Postler’s Jack Daniels-chocolate chip-peppermint pie inspired some particularly spirited bidding. Thanks to the bakers, bidders and Calvin and Pat Story, those pies brought in more than $4,000.
After dinner catered by Hot Tomatoes, Carolyn Bowra, the director of the museum, and Kathy McKenzie, president of the historical society’s board, shared all the ways the honorees were deserving. The honorees received photo collages made just for them with photos from the museum’s historical collection.
Maria’s was honored for both its stocking of books about regional and local history as well as its support of local authors and local organizations.
The library, which grew from a reading room stocked with donated materials (from the Reading Club of Durango members), has become a modern treasure.
“The library’s recent Durango Herald digitization project has been a game changer for historical researchers,” Bowra said. (Amen.)
The Lisa Blue Trio provided the after-dinner entertainment.
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And the cornucopia of June anniversaries continue with Tim and Susan Schaldach, Brian and Nancy Van Mols, David and Diann Wylie, Chris and Sue Hampton, Mark and Donna Bauer, John and Emily TerMaat, Dave and Connie Trautmann, Mike and Susan Johnson, Robert and Jackie Manning, Frank and Katherine Campana and Gary and Shari Jennings.
