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The C Bar C Ranch team from Hartley was the overall champion of the 25th annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff last Saturday, September 28, at the Saints’ Roost Museum.

Twelve wagons prepared food for 600 people for the sell-out event, and the C Bar C placed in three out of five food judging categories and placed third in Overall Cooking and third in Wagon & Camp to take home the custom cutting board designed by Clarendon artist Jack Craft.

The 12th annual Junior Cookoff the day before the big event drew six contestants, who were paired with experienced wagon teams to prepare potatoes for the cooks’ dinner Friday night. Haylin Bivens from Clarendon won first place and was teamed with the DT Wagon from Watertown, South Dakota.

McKenna Williams of Clarendon was second, working with the Honey-Do-Spoiler of Pampa; and Addy Havens was third and worked with the Crosstimber Ranch of Mustang, Okla.
Other junior participants included Haughton Bivens, Henry Bivens, and Chelsea Wright, all of Clarendon. The Junior Cookoff is sponsored each year by the American Chuckwagon Association.

Following the Junior Cookoff, 160 people enjoyed a delicious steak dinner Friday night on the museum grounds, compared to 165 the year before.

The invitation-only event was held exclusively for Chuckwagon teams and members of the Saints’ Roost Museum and their families as well as members of the Goodnight family.
The trade show was held throughout the day Saturday, and live entertainment was provided. Relatives of Chuckwagon inventor Charles Goodnight also were present for their annual reunion.

Competing wagons served a menu of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, beans, and cobbler. Wagons came from as far as Tennessee and South Dakota to attend this year’s cookoff.

Prizes totaling $3,250 were paid out to the winners. Complete results were:

Overall Wagon & Cooking: 1) C Bar C Ranch.

Overall Cooking: 1) Camp Cookie of Germantown, Tenn., 2) Cross Wagon, 3) C Bar C, and 4) J Bar D Ranch of Amarillo.

Best Wagon & Camp: 1) DT Wagon of Watertown, South Dakota, 2) J Bar D, 3) C Bar C, and 4) Crosstimber Ranch of Mustang, Okla.

Best Meat: 1) J Bar D, 2) Double Nichols of Amarillo, 3) C Bar C, and 4) Camp Cookie.

Best Beans: 1) Cross Wagon, 2) Camp Cookie, 3) Crosstimber, and 4) Cocklebur Camp of Odessa.

Best Potatoes: 1) Camp Cookie, 2) Cross Wagon, 3) Crosstimber, and 4) J Bar D.

Best Bread: 1) Honey-Do-Spoiler of Pampa, 2) Cross, 3) J Bar D, and 4) C Bar C.
Best Dessert: 1) Palo Duro Cowboy Church of Canyon, 2) C Bar C, 3) C4B Chuckwagon of

Amarillo, and 4) Honey-Do-Spoiler.

Following the chuckwagon cookoff, the Saints’ Roost Museum and the Mulkey Theatre hosted Red Steagall and his band. Steagall was the featured entertainment at the first cookoff in 1995. This year more than 200 people bought tickets to see Steagall perform on the Mulkey stage.