BBQ Championship gearing up

Although the official kickoff isn't until 4:30 this afternoon, the Bates County Fairgrounds is already bustling with people and activity this morning. Bates County Live spoke with Brandon Plunkett, President of the Butler Police association regarding the event "This has grown every year since we started five years ago. The number of people attending has been anywhere between 3,000 and 10,000 people, and with the really good weather this year we're expecting another big turn out". As of 10 a.m. this morning, booths with 4-H clubs, FFA clubs, churches, Boy Scouts and more were already in place preparing for a busy weekend.

Plunkett himself will also be going nonstop as the Butler Police Association will be selling McBee's Brats starting at 5 pm tonight, plus his duties of overseeing the set up of the BBQ contest and other activities. "Last year we had 39 teams in the cook-off. This year, we have 69 signed up. Its gonna be busy". He went on to say that included in the 69 teams will be 6 or 7 that are in the top 10 in the nation- all of which will be contending for their share of $8,300 in payouts and an invitation to the American Royal championship coming up.

During our conversation, Plunkett wanted to express a hearty thank-you to Butler Country Mart for sponsoring the cook off and wanted to remind everyone t-shirts will be for sale on site with the logo above for $10.

Click here to see the hour by hour championship schedule running tonight through tomorrow. More info about is also available on the official Butler Police association web site here.