Goat BBQ History

In a small town, you often have to make your own fun. That’s exactly what a small group of recent high school graduates did in 1977.

Dennis Teaff, a 1972 graduate of EHS, had been deer hunting for several years in Brady, TX. He would always come back and tell his friends about the great barbecue goat that he had eaten there. No one took him at his word, so in the fall of 1976, he purchased a hindquarter from the meat market in Brady to bring back to cook. As luck would have it (bad luck), his hunting buddies cooked and ate the goat while he was hunting. When he returned to Electra, the cookout that was planned upon his return was postponed until the next spring since there was no goat available in this area at that time.

In the spring of 1977, when it was time for the first Goat BBQ, no one could locate a goat. So, being the enterprising young man that he was, Dennis spotted a goat in a pipe yard (location not disclosed!), enlisted a getaway driver, and took the goat for the good of the group. They met on the Red River at Bridgetown to cook the stolen goat and enjoy a weekend of fun. And so began what has become a major event in Electra.

Since there were so many others at Bridgetown besides the Goat BBQ group, Diane Teaff Gafford got permission from Ray B. Dickey, Sr. to have the cookout on his land near Bridgetown. During the six years the barbecue was held there, the small party of 30 grew to over 200, with the original group providing all of the food for their families and friends.

Due to the lack of manpower and the expense of the event, the group was about to disband when a group of City planners including Jack Hollis and Billy Don Clark asked that the group move the barbecue to Electra and establish a cookoff. The plan was for the event to continue to grow and bring notoriety to Electra. The original Goat BBQ gang agreed, and the first year had 13 teams enter the competition, which was held at the Rodeo grounds. A Saturday night dance was added at the Rodeo dance pavillion.

After a few years of holding the event (now known as the Electra Goat BBQ) in town, manpower again became a problem, and the City approached the Chamber of Commerce about sponsoring the event. The Chamber agreed and appointed Curtis Weddle and Rebecca McCain as Co-Chairmen.

The first year the Chamber sponsored the event, which was the 10^th Annual Electra Goat BBQ, they had about 25 entries. In just two years, it had grown to over 30. Mike “Slyde” Hyde and his band entertained the crowd on Saturday and played at the dance on Saturday night. When the City purchased the property on East Cleveland now known as the Fairgrounds, they invited the Chamber to use the facility as a venue for the BBQ.

After relocating, there was room to grow and by 1992 there were about 35 teams participating. Encouraged by Jim Griffin (Rebecca and Curtis met Jim at the Wichita Falls Dead Cow Cooking) who had entered the Goat BBQ the previous year, the event was expanded to include categories other than just goat. The next year brisket, ribs, and chicken were added and in 1996, the event became sanctioned by the Lone Star Barbecue Society (LSBS).

Once the event was sanctioned and included in the LSBS's newsletter, it just took off. Cooking teams now travel from all over the country to enter the event. Along with the major meat categories, the event now includes a jackpot steak competition on Friday night and jackpot beans on Saturday. There is also a homemade salsa competition.

Sixty-eight teams entered the event in 2011, with 12 additional spaces rented by those just wanting to be close to the action or hold a family reunion. Vendors provide concessions and attractions for kids, and a band plays on Friday night and throughout the day on Saturday. Those not cooking are often judges, which are volunteers, and have included a host of people from all over the area.

As planned, the event has brought notoriety to Electra, being covered by radio stations in Alaska, New York, Montana, Hawaii, Florida, South Carolina, Puerto Rico and Rio De Janeiro. What began as a party to prove what good barbecue goat tasted like, has grown into a highly anticipated event.

Members of the original Goat BBQ Gang were: