Letter to the Editor: Backyard BBQ Cook-Off a Sizzlin' Success, Winners Congratulated

Dear Editor:

From bags to blues to great BBQ, we had a blast!  The 4th Annual Glen Ellyn Backyard BBQ Cook-Off was another sizzlin’ success.  Nearly 2,000 people came out on what couldn’t have been a more picture-perfect Saturday.  I am so very grateful for the community’s support of the BBQ, which provides significant funds for Transitional Housing Program for homeless families in DuPage County.

The incredibly dedicated volunteers who make the BBQ such a smokin’ good time year after year deserve my heart-felt gratitude: Tom “Pig Daddy” Koprowski, Greg Bane, Chip Miller, Tom Nelson, Bob Solak, Kirk and Emmarie Burger, Lori Urick, Steve Stewart and Amy Thompson.

BBQ-goers enjoyed an afternoon of some of Chicagoland’s best blues bands: Glen Ellyn favorite Amy Kelly with the Bill Ande Band, Buzz Kilman and the Blues Rocket Scientists, and Cadillac Dave and His Chicago Red Hots.

Congratulations to the winners of all the day’s competitions:

2012 Best Ribs
1st Place: Big Daddy Dan’s BBQ – Streamwood
2nd Place: Hot-Diggity-Hog – Wheaton
3rd Place: Uncle Jimz Ribz – Wheaton

2012 Best Dish
1st Place: Smokin Tasty – Huntley
2nd Place: Team High Life – Lombard
3rd Place: Lill St. BBQ – Glen Ellyn 

2012 Best Sauce (People’s Choice)
1st Place: The Irish Pig – Winfield
2nd Place: 3 Little Pigs – Lombard
3rd Place: Night Owl Smoker – Bolingbrook 

2012 Cornhole Tournament Winners
1st Place: The Lombard Cartel
2nd Place: From Bag to Worse
3rd Place: URBZ

Of course, none of this could have happened without the generous support of the BBQ’s sponsors: Glen Ellyn Bank and Trust, Advanced Healthcare Associates, 90.9fm WDCB Public Radio, Pirate 50 Trophies, Glancer Magazine, Stubbs, Bryall YMCA, Abbey Resort, House of Graphics, 360 Digital, Professional Paving and Concrete Company, Inc. and Euclid Beverage.

Thank you to the Glen Ellyn Police Department, Glen Ellyn Park District and all of the terrific staff and officials of the Village of Glen Ellyn.  Your support of this event means a great deal to me.

It is an honor for Bridge Communities and me personally to be associated with such a fantastic community event.

Amy Van Polen

Bridge Communities