The Johnston Rotary Club initiated a first ever "Smokin' Heroes" event at the Johnston Green Days held Thursday, June 14 through Sunday, June 17. This event was a meat smoking competition with eight (8) teams comprised of fire departments, police departments and Iowa National Guard units. These eight competitors came from across the State of Iowa.
Competitors started rolling into the Johnston Simpson Barn parking lot to set up at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, June 16. Pork, Ribs and Chicken were distributed at 7:00 a.m. and the Smokin' Heroes competitive event started. Additionally, each team made their best side that was also judged at the event.
At noon, unmarked samples for each fire, police and military team were turned in to a Johnston Rotarian, who then took the unnamed samples to the judges. At about the same time, each of the eight teams offered free samples of their pork, ribs and chicken, plus their sides dishes for any Green Days attendee. During the side dish sampling, those trying the side dishes could vote on the best side dish.
In the above picture, Johnston Rotarian's Shawn Miner, Wayne Young and Dave Campbell are selling raffle tickets. All proceeds from the event go toward a Johnston High School learning and service event being held at one of Iowa's Sister States, Kosovo.
A special thanks goes to Hy-Vee and Midwest Premier Foods for supplying the pork, ribs and chicken. Their donation enabled the event to be successful, the JHS learning and cultural event to occur, as well as supporting military, police and fire teams competing. A generator donated by Logan Equipment kept the competitors' equipment running smoothly.
Lastly, Tyler Tompkins and Zach Grandon from the Johnston Police Department were the backbone behind the entire event. They worked tirelessly from the original idea all the way through the event end. In 90 degree plus heat, in sopping wet uniforms, they were there the entire way. They are truly interested in the "Smokers" have a fun and organized event and ultimately seeing our Johnston students enlarge their experiences through the cultural and learning exchanges.