An Event for the Entire Community
Vulcan Materials Company held their Annual BBQ Competition at Calera Quarry in Calera, Alabama on Friday May 10, 2024. Over 35 teams from all over the country participated in the BBQ competition. In addition, the community was invited to visit Calera Quarry and partake in the fun and food. Over 1200 visitors from the surrounding community were expected to enjoy this free event. The competition was fierce and teams were judged on best BBQ chicken and best ribs as well as some other fun categories.
Good Food and Good Company
This was Mellott’s first time attending the event and we certainly brought our game faces! We started set-up at Calera Quarry Thursday afternoon. After taking some time to absorb the beautiful vistas of the quarry, Jim Levy got right to work chopping the wood that would fuel the fires for our oven. It was a bright and early Friday morning as the team arrived around 3:30 am to start cooking. From there, our cooking team led by Mike Stavola worked tirelessly to produce BBQ chicken and ribs we were proud of. Teams were encouraged to get creative and to come up with a “lunch special” for an additional layer of competition. Mellott’s lunch special was called “The Pitmaster” which consisted of semolina sour dough bread, brisket, gruyere cheese and pickled onions.
Connections and Comradery
Going into the much-anticipated awards ceremony, our team already felt like winners, based purely on the amazing connections and conversations we were able to
have with the hundreds of Vulcan employees also present at the event. Nonetheless, we came to win and we did not leave empty handed. We came in 6th place for our BBQ Chicken with a composite score of 41.40. For our ribs, we were able to secure a trophy with a 2nd place finish and composite score of 43.60. A big surprise was a bonus trophy we won for “Ugliest Smoker”, even though we think it’s actually rather nice looking!
The Big Event-Mellott Crowned Grand Champion!
Finally, it was time for the big event—the crowning of the 2024 Grand Champion. “Mellott Mountain Killers BBQ” was announced as the Grand Champion with a winning composite score of 85 and our team could not have been more proud or excited. We were the first non-Vulcan team ever to take home the coveted “Steel Chicken” and are under strict stipulations that we must return the trophy and participate in the competition next year, which we are already looking forward to!
A Huge Thank you to Vulcan Materials and Calera Quarry
We want to sincerely thank Vulcan Materials Company, and the Calera Quarry team for the invitation to attend the competition and the incredibly warm welcome we received throughout the event. We are so thankful for the opportunity to share such an awesome day of comradery, conversation and fun with you all.
The “Mellott Mountain Killers Team”:
• “Chef”: Mike Stavola, Mellott Vice President of Operations
• “Scout”: Jim Levy, Mellott Vice President of Service Development & Sales – Crushing/Rental
• “Fire Chief”: Matt Sweitzer, Mellott Division Manager-Rentals and Equipment Startups
• “Fire Chief”: Ron Teeters, Mellott Service Manager
• “Turn-in Coordinator”: Lindsey Bard, Mellott Marketing Manager
• “Fan Base/Supporting Crew”: Ken Mayo, Southern Machinery Sales and Applications Manager
• “Fan Base/Supporting Crew”: Chris Powers, Southern Machinery Account Manager
• “Fan Base/ Supporting Crew”: Dustin Dunn, Southern Machinery Account Manager
