Dave Childers, left, gives his opinion of just-out-of-the-smoker ribs to fellow Just for Fun barbecue team member Keith Pearson at the Lawrence Sertoma Club 48 BarBQ contest, Saturday, May 6, 2017, at Broken Arrow Park. Childers, a master-certified Kansas City Barbeque Society judge when not competing, pronounced the ribs the team's best-ever effort.

Dave Childers was on the other side of the apron at Saturday’s Lawrence Sertoma Club 48 BarBQ contest.

The Lawrence resident was occupied about noon beneath a tent awning in Broken Arrow Park, helping his Just for Fun barbecue team prepare presentation cartons for the contest’s judges. At most barbecue contests he attends, Childers would be sampling from those presentation cartons.

“I’m a Kansas City Barbeque Society Master Certified judge,” he said. “I’ve always loved barbecue. I finally found a role.”

Childers came into that role after a woefully unsuccessful initial foray into competitive barbecue.

“In my first contest with a team from Topeka, we came in absolutely in last place,” he said. “We were last in all four contests. I thought, ‘I have to learn what the judges are looking for.'”

To earn master-certified status, a judge must have judged 30 or more contests, passed a test on barbecue knowledge and entered competitions, Childers said. He is respected enough in the role to have judged multiple American Royal World Series of Barbecue events in Kansas City, Mo., and was picked the last five years for the contest’s select competition. That’s the same number of years Childers has been attending the Sertoma 48 BarBQ contest with his current team.

In barbecue contests, teams are required to enter the four competitive categories of brisket, pork, chicken and ribs. Judges then score them by taste, appearance and tenderness, although obviously there are subtle distinctions within those large categories.

As teammate Keith Pearson passed a rib, Childers’ critique was that it was the team’s best-ever effort, and he praised the color.

“We want to try and do the best we can and see where we wind up,” Childers said. “We had a spring practice cook to get ready, but this is our first competition of the year. It’s likely to be the only one.”

Nearby, Steve Schrag was helping the Dead Last team from Overland Park finish prepping. Contrary to the team’s name, its members had ambitious expectations for its second contest of the season, he said. The name was a vestige from the history of the team four high school buddies started, he said.

“Early on, it was more about partying than barbecue,” he said. “For many years, we did finish dead last. About 12 years ago, we got serious. We kept the name for the irony of hearing it called when they announce the winners.”

The team enters about eight or nine contest a year, Schrag said.

“We always come to Lawrence,” he said. “It’s one of the better ones.”

Lawrence Sertoma Club member Dee Bisel said the contest had a full house Saturday as teams and Lawrencians turned out to support the fundraiser for the Sertoma-Schiefelbusch Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic Communication Camp held each summer at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. Also making the event a success were the University of Kansas students who volunteered to help with the contest, she said.

The fundraising cause was behind her decision to volunteer for the contest, said Haley Tinch, a KU senior in speech, language and hearing. Sitting at a table offering samples for those attending the contest, Tinch admitted to having tasted some of the entrees.

“My favorite was from the Four Men and a Pig team,” she said.