Serra Club stages the Big Smoke event for seminarians

Some $8,500 in proceeds from the third annual Big Smoke event in Minot on July 8 has been reported by officials of the Serra Club of North Central North Dakota which sponsors the annual meat-smoking competition held at the Church of St. John the Apostle in Minot. It was established in 2017 as a benefit to seminarians and others seeking a religious vocation.
           
The evening began with Mass celebrated by Fr. David Richter, pastor of St. John the Apostle. Father Josh Waltz, director of vocations for the diocese, provided a homily in which he spoke of the Church Universal, noting that “If you are in trouble and discouraged….you can turn this on yourselves and completely lose faith and hope, or you can turn it toward Christ and be healed. “Jesus is the one hope, the one answer. He is all we have. No matter how dark it is, no matter how discouraged we are, He is there. He is the hope we hang onto….This shadow and darkness will pass. Hang onto that hope, it is worth the fight.”
 
Michael Ruelle, club president, said “Thanks be to God” in his appreciation for this year’s benefit. Ten teams entered the competition—the highest number yet in the three years it has been held. “The place was full of excitement and enthusiasm, particularly after the judges began making the rounds for their tasting and judging ritual,” Ruelle said. About 350 people attended.
           
Winners in the competition were determined by a trio of professional judges and by those in attendance. Smoked ribs, presented by the competitor/cooks, was the meat selected for the competition. The ribs were also featured in the meal for those who came.
           
The judges were Steve Murphy, retired owner and executive chef of Ryan’s Family Dining and Sevens Restaurant in Minot; Jeff Senger, Minot, partner and general manager of MSI Services & Solutions, including Spicey Pie and M&S Concessions, and an amateur meat smoker; and Susan Willson, Minot, owner of Up-Again Cooking, professional chef, and teacher of cooking lessons at Gourmet Chef in Minot.
           
The competitors and their equipment made a colorful scene as they hovered over their “meatworks.” Cooking competitors were:
 

• Father Corey Nelson - pastor at St. Thomas the Apostle in Tioga, St. James in Powers Lake and St. Michael in Ray.
• St. John the Apostle Church - Fr. David Richter and Lance Meyer;
• Team Sherwood – Fr. Adam Maus, pastor at St. Jerome’s in Mohall, St. James in Sherwood and St. John’s in Lansford, with Jeff Volk and his son, Aaron Volk, both of Sherwood;
• The Burning Bush Barbecue Team, Minot - Cody Eisenbraun, Jeff Schmidt, Mike Nilson and Scott Weston;
• Brew Team of the Rectory Brewing Co. - Kevin Sebastian, Mike Vetter, Ed Steckler and Fr. Justin Waltz, pastor, St. Leo the Great, Minot;
• Father Justin Waltz, founder, Rectory Brewing Co., smoking Peiking Ribs with Fr. Josh Waltz;
• Little Flower Catholic Church of Minot - Robert Artz and his son, Eric, a diocesan seminarian, and Randy Meyer;
• Assumption Abbey, Richardton - Brother Charles McDaniels and Novice Craig Thorgeirson;
• Smoking With Faith of United Methodist Church, Minot - Randy Bell, Dennis Rehder, Chris Rehder and Mike Common;
• Team Tom & Dave - Tom Magnuson and David Aleshire.

 
The judges awarded the first-place prize of a Traeger Grill to the team of Fr. David Richter and Lance Meyer of St. John the Apostle Church. Team Tom & Dave was the second-place winner, earning them a Yeti cooler.
 
First place in the People’s Choice Awards (judged by those attending the event), went to Smoking With Faith, awarded a tailgate grill. Second place went to Team Sherwood, winner of a tailgate cooler.
 
Top bidders in the silent auction event were Lonnie Decker of Bismarck, who paid the top bid of $600 for a dinner offered by Fr. Adam Maus; Susan and Paul MacLeod, Minot, top bidders at $600 for a wine and appetizer event offered by Fr. Jadyn Nelson, president of Bishop Ryan Catholic School; and Beverly Thom of Minot, who was top bidder at $500 for a dinner offered by Fr. Richter.
 
Ruelle said that next year’s Big Smoke will be staged in the Flickertail Garden at the North Dakota State Fairgrounds in Minot on June 29, 2020.
 
“This change of venue will give us more options. And having the date set this early will give us more time for better and bigger planning,” he said.