Art Fennell and the Country Style family.
Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
Scholarship Recipients: Dajanek Benton-Lowe, Melody Blue, Semaj Brown, Luke Chavis, Dinah Daniels, Dorrien Murphy, Isaiah Thomas, Dennis Turner, Fredaisha Williams, Salim Yunusah.
Courtesy photo
BLENHEIM — On June 14, Blenheim once again played host to the largest Black BBQ event in the nation. The 9th Annual Country Style Cookoff brought in thousands of people from all over the country for a day of community fellowship, fun and competition barbecue. Attendees came in from as far as Washington State, Colorado, California and Texas. One of the fans even flew in from Kuwait.
The annual event is the brainchild of Bennettsville native and retired national journalist Art Fennell.
“I’m always excited to see tiny Blenheim, where I went to school, become transformed into a national stage for great barbecue. This year we had 50 Grill Master teams come in to compete. Teams came from Arizona, Philadelphia, Illinois and Louisiana, but the local Grill Master teams from Marlboro County are always the fan favorites,” said Fennell.
He went on to say that the Country Style Cookoff is a great family reunion for Marlboro County and “an opportunity to lift our youth with scholarships.”
Each year, the event awards 10 Marlboro County High School students a $1,000 scholarship check to assist in their academic pursuits. The scholarships are presented on stage during the event with the applause of the family’s and friends support.
The event can be seen on Art Fennell’s Country Style Youtube channel in about a few days. (Country Style 2 with Art Fennell).
Fennell concluded, “That’s the other great thing about this. Hundreds of thousands of people all over the world will watch what we do in through my Youtube channel. It has truly been a blessing and an economic boost for Marlboro County.”
See more photos from the cookoff on page 12.