No matter how much effort he and his Pickled Pig cooking team put into their barbecue dishes, Jerry Haggard knows that winning a cook-off contest really boils down to two factors.

“It just depends on who gets your meat and whether they like it or not,” Haggard, of Overland Park, said Saturday afternoon at Broken Arrow Park during the annual Sertoma Club Barbecue Cook-Off.

The Pickled Pig’s four-member team was one of 42 teams that competed in this year’s cook-off. The event is a fund-raiser for the Sertoma Club’s programs to help people with speech and hearing impairments and to conduct other community projects.

Most of the teams were from the Lawrence-Kansas City area, with a few from Nebraska and Oklahoma, organizers said.

Alex Newman, Free State High School junior, left, and Nathan Lindsey, Lawrence High School junior, sample pieces of pork and beef brisket during the Sertoma Club Barbecue Cook-Off at Broken Arrow Park. Saturday's event was a fund-raiser for a variety of Sertoma programs.

Most participants arrived Friday to prepare their meats. Early Saturday, heavy rain and lightning struck, blowing over some of the cookers’ tents.

The storm came just two days after the city was hit by a tornado, but nobody was scared away from the contest.

“I don’t think it bothered them,” said Jeff Messick, judge coordinator for the Sertoma Club.

Among those sampling the chicken, brisket, pork and ribs were Larry Shadoin, of Gardner, and Pam Ricley, of Lawrence.

“I just like to eat,” Shadoin said.

Ricley said she frequented barbecue contests in Kansas City.

“I like to try different things,” she said.

Other than his love of barbecue, Haggard had other reasons for competing in weekend cook-offs.

“We just come here to get away from our wives, eat, drink and make a mess,” he said.

¢ Upcoming barbecue cookoffs¢ Barbecue cook-off offers good eats for a good cause (5-12-02)