Porky Pirate Barbecue, Logan Martin’s newest eatery, is dropping anchor at Coosa Island.
Offering a bounty of smoked delights and hearty fare, the new restaurant is expected to be open in May after months of extensive renovations and improvements.
Owners Brandon and Amy MacDonald plan a soft opening around Cinco de Mayo, debuting a brand-new look, feel and dining experience at their waterfront location.
“We’re excited about this family friendly restaurant,” said Brandon. “It’s not a bar first and food secondary,” although alcohol will be served.
The menu is “scratch made and upscale” with most cooked on a fire. “We’ll smoke all our own meats out there. Our smoker holds 700 pounds of meat at time,” he said.
Chef Lee Wiggins
Inside, you’ll find a new, 54-seat dining area and full-service bar. Outside is covered deck dining, an open lawn and a rooftop patio with a spectacular view. The rooftop patio is available for private events. The lawn features a place for games, uncovered seating and even a pirate ship playset for the kids.
Their motto is “Island Vibes with a Southern Soul,” and from the sound of the plans, it’s an ideal descriptor.
They’ll have live music during the day on weekends, and the whole place is open and inviting, giving it a communal feel.
It’s not the MacDonalds’ first venture in the restaurant and hospitality business. Brandon owned seven restaurants in the Birmingham area. Amy managed one of the restaurants, and that’s how they met. They’ve been together for 16 years and have two daughters they home school. Brandon has a son who is a freshman at Mississippi State and is a counselor at Camp Cosby in the summers.
An entrepreneur by nature, Brandon said he can see a location or space and ideas start to flow, and a concept materializes. “I like designing or creating something and making it come to fruition.”
That’s the momentum behind the Porky Pirate – laid back, but exceptional food and service. Amy’s dad was a commercial fisherman, and she “grew up” on a shrimp boat. Fast forward, and they were keeping their own boat at Coosa Island.
The old restaurant space was available, and the wheels began to turn. He used his own experiences as a company director of operations traveling around the country to develop the menu.
It will have Texas style brisket like you would find in Dallas – “the same caliber.” There’s smoked pork, Carolina style, mopped during cooking with a vinegar sauce, pulled and then served with a mustard-based sauce.
Smoked wings and chicken will feature a white sauce. St. Louis ribs will be smoked with a dry rub.
Other dishes include catfish, chili lime dusted shrimp, smoked sausage and grits, reverse seared steaks, rum glazed salmon and three different smash-style burgers. A Caribbean-Southern slaw is on the menu, too. “We have unique takes on things,” he said, noting the creativity behind such dishes as fried Oreos and smoked bacon maple bread pudding or the bacon wrapped smoked honey buns and smoked bologna.
They have a full kids’ menu with healthier options than normal children’s fare, and on Mondays, they eat for free.
Island parties can be held on the rooftop, which seats 10-12 people, and it has fixed menus to choose from. Reservations are already coming in.
Weekly specials are planned, including Bingo and BOGO Tacos on Tuesdays and half price wings on Wednesdays.
And for convenience for busy lifestyles, they’ll feature a grab and go menu with dinners for four – meat and two sides, dessert and sauces – for $38. Smoked turkeys and hams will be available during the holidays.
Chef is Lee Wiggins, who was on the leadership team of Dave & Buster’s. While his specialty is desserts, he has extensive experience in catering.
The restaurant will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner and on weekends, breakfast and brunch will be served in season beginning at 8 a.m. Plans call for being open year-round.
They’re even providing space on the patio deck for church services on Sunday. “You have to meet people where they’re at,” Brandon said, giving them a place to worship if they’re not into traditional church. He likened it to the church services held at the coast’s Flora-Bama that are growing in popularity.
“This will be more casual and less intimidating but give an opportunity for the Lord to touch your heart. We’re doing things the right way – putting the Lord first,” he said.
Amy agreed. The restaurant is a place to “break bread together – fellowship. We want this place to be a blessing to all those around us.”
Southside Landing and Coosa Landing kayaking and paddle boats
Pedal Boats are back!
Just in time for Spring Break in March, a parade of pedal boats made their second season appearance, returning to their home base at Gadsden’s Coosa Landing.
Brightly colored swans, a duck and even a dragon can be seen making their way around the harbor area near the River Walk and the bait shop, powered by pedalers.
The boats can hold five people – two pedalers up front and three on the fully enclosed, rear bench seating.
Anyone interested in renting the boats can visit the Coosa Landing bait shop, located at 200 Lake Street, starting at 9 a.m. The last rental of the day is at 4 p.m. Rentals are available Monday through Sunday.
Renters must be at least 18 years old and bring an ID. Life jackets are required, and the city has some available for approved passengers. The rental fee is $20, which provides access for up to one hour. If multiple hours are needed, the first hour is $20, and each hour thereafter is $15.
No rentals with winds higher than 10 mph.
For more information, call 256-549-4677.
Kayaks for rent in Southside & Gadsden
Want something a little more challenging? Try something new at Southside Landing and Coosa Landing in Gadsden for seasoned kayakers and novices alike.
The cities have partnered with Rent.Fun to launch a self-service kayak rental program at both landings
Available for rent are kayaks with paddles and vests. The cost is $25 for two hours and $15 per hour thereafter.
Just use the mobile app online at rent.fun for each city, pick your kayak, grab your vest and paddle away!
If you can’t imagine a Fourth of July celebration without fireworks, that’s because it has been part of the tradition since nearly the beginning of America’s birth as a nation.
During the early months of the Revolutionary War in 1776, delegates to the Continental Congress debated whether the 13 colonies should declare independence from Britain and King George.
On July 1, 12 of the colonies did so. New York, the 13th, would follow suit on July 9. On July 2, with independence plainly in sight and final drafts of the Declaration of Independence being revised, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail:
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival … It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
And as Adams predicted, it was. On July 4, 1777, the first organized 4th of July celebration was held in Philadelphia. The next day, the Pennsylvania Evening Post reported: “The evening was closed with the ringing of bells, and at night there was a grand exhibition of fireworks (which began and concluded with thirteen rockets) on the Commons, and the city was beautifully illuminated.”
Two hundred and forty-eight years later, the tradition continues. Our lakes are popular venues for the nighttime show beautifully illuminating the waters below. Here’s a roundup of fireworks shows throughout the lake region:
Logan Martin Lake
City of Pell City, Pell City Lakeside Park, July 4, around 9 p.m.
River’s Edge Marina, July 5, Event kicks off at 6:30 p.m.; fireworks after dark
Back Porch Grill/Clear Creek Marina, July 3, after dark
City of Lincoln, July 5, Lincoln’s Landing, after dark
City of Talladega, July 4, Battery Park, after dark
Neely Henry Lake
City of Rainbow City, June 28 event starts at 5 p.m. with food trucks, live music, Kia Sports Complex, 625 Kinizie Lane; Drone Show begins at 9 p.m. (ideal for sensory sensitive audience).
City of Gadsden, July 4 event starts at 6 p.m. with vendors, live music, and fireworks visible after dark; First Street, Riverside Drive. Fireworks show hosted by Gadsden-Etowah Patriots at Riverwalk Park at Coosa Landing, 108 North Hood Avenue
It’s here! It’s one of the first signs that lake season has officially arrived on Logan Martin. The ever-popular River’s Edge Marina, featuring Tiki Hut and Burgers & Breakfast, opens May 3, Saturday and Sundays only. Friday nights will come back the first week of June.
Hours for Saturday and Sunday will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Last call is at 8:30 p.m. Manager Michael Emerick noted that on Friday nights, “we will have either a band, Bingo or maybe even Karaoke!”
The new building that houses the marina and River’s Edge Burgers & Breakfast made its debut along with an expanded and renovated Tiki Hut in 2024. “It was a very great year for us. People seemed to love the building. We were able to cook faster with our bigger fryers and grills. The flow seemed a lot better, and we had a lot of positive feedback that we are looking forward to growing off of in 2025,” Emerick said.
Fun at 2024 season kickoff
“We saw huge growth in 2024, and we hope to build off that. We think the new building and the positivity surrounding The Tiki Hut is something great and definitely helped boost our day-to-day.”
For the 2025 season, “we are actually renovating the Tiki Hut once again. This bar renovation will make for smoother and faster ordering, we hope, along with more machines. We will now have two Bushwacker machines. We have upgraded the Blue Hawaiian machine to keep up with the demand, along with the Pina Colada machine. We are officially bringing back Frose on an every weekend basis.”
Plans call for adding a small area inside the Tiki Hut to serve as the “Beer and Mixed Drink” Bar so the main bar can focus on the frozen drinks, “and you can snag your beer or mixed drinks from its own place,” he said. “We hope this helps the line and keeps drinks flowing.”
Another huge draw is the creation of Tiki Hut Jr. “This is something we are very excited about. Previously, we served Virgin drinks for the kids out of the Tiki Hut. We will be removing those from the main bar and putting them in its own dedicated ‘non-alcoholic’ bar underneath the building,” which is a covered patio with plenty of seating, he said.
Tiki Hut Jr. will serve Virgin Drinks, Ice Cream, Sodas, snacks and will be the main location for apparel sales. It may also serve a few more items.
During Halloween’s Boo Bash event
Also on tap as a new addition this year is a self-serve kiosk, where you can order food off of it downstairs at the Tiki Hut Jr., which Emerick hopes will “eliminate the line and starts faster ordering processes for people so they can enjoy all the things we have to offer while they wait on their food as such as our swim area, playground, games, music, and more.”
Other changes at the marina include wet slips for the boat parking, which will have about 10 more slips this year for parking.
The summer kickoff is the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, May 17. It will feature three bands performing, starting at 3 p.m. BuckWIld Band is headlining the event. Tyler Nichols Band is in the middle slot, and David Howard from Kudzu is opening with a solo. This event is presented by ABC Towing, and sponsored by Capps Painting, A Plus Tire & Auto, Woods Surfside Marina, Stone Concepts and ERA King.
“We do have some pretty special events planned or in the planning,” Emerick says. Memorial Day Weekend, Cruisin performs on Saturday, and then Kudzu on Sunday. These performances will be from 12 noon to 4 p.m. on a small stage.
On opening day, May 3, Skiers Marine will be hosting an in-water boat show at the marina.
“We do not have an exact date, but we are working with the Birmingham Homebuilders Association to plan a poker run that leaves from the marina with maybe a small band after the event at the Tiki Hut. This will be sometime in June,” according to Emerick.
On June 28, they will be sponsoring the annual Dam-Palooza, a boat tie-up near Logan Martin Dam, by supplying a band on top of a houseboat. “We will have 90 Proof performing for us, with DJIV doing the DJ music between sets,” he says.
Of course, no summer season is complete without fireworks. July 5 will be its annual fireworks show event with bounce houses, snow cones, bands and more. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. with fireworks at “dark:30.”
Plans also call for sponsoring Boo Bash in October and hosting a special event in conjunction with the dock-to-dock trick-or-treating activities.
Do you know where it’s safe to swim on the Coosa River?
Summer is just around the bend which means that pretty soon folks will begin jumping into their favorite swimming holes around the Coosa! Check out Coosa Riverkeeper’s website or social media every Friday to see the latest water quality results each week of the summer, starting the week before Memorial Day, for our summer Swim Guide program so that you and your family can make informed decisions on where it’s safe to swim.
Swim Guide is our organization’s water quality monitoring alert service that we conduct each summer since 2015! Samples are collected from all around the watershed, delivered to our office lab, processed and analyzed, and then we issue alerts based on the E. coli levels we detected in our samples. We issue these alerts using a simple green, yellow, or red indicator meaning that if we detect elevated levels of E. coli in the waterway above the safe swimming limit for humans, we issue a yellow or red alert depending on how high the E. coli is elevated in a particular sample.
We’ve got a great team of Environmental Technicians this year that are all ready to gather this important water quality data across 50 sampling sites. Our Environmental Technicians play a vital role in conducting this program as they serve as our “boots on the ground” and process these samples for staff to report to the public on Fridays. We hope we see y’all out on the river this summer, and give a wave if you see one of our Environmental Technicians out and about around the river!
No one should have to gamble with their health when it comes to splashing in the river! That’s why we conduct this program each year, every week of the summer, so that you and your community can make informed decisions on where you choose to recreate. Check out where we test and learn more about what our data means by following our social media or visiting our website at CoosaRiver.org/SwimGuide!
Logan Martin Dam Palooza boat tie-up returns June 28
It has been a dozen years since someone had the idea of a nontraditional get-together at Logan Martin Dam. It would be a boat tie-up, where boats tie to one another and enjoy the day on the lake – in the water, on their boats, on floats and mats, or from boat to boat.
It has become one giant floating party, and it’s returning June 28, when organizers are taking the 12th Annual Logan Martin Dam Palooza to the next level.
Live music by 90 Proof will entertain, and DJIV will be playing the tunes between sets. Sponsors of the free event are Tiki Hut and ABC Towing.
While organizers want everyone to enjoy the day at the dam, there are some reminders and guidelines that will ensure exactly that.
Here they are:
Have a responsible boat captain in charge of the boat and the safety of your crew
Bring enough ropes to properly secure your boat to your neighbor’s if you plan to tie up to the line of boats.
Have sufficient bumpers for the size and type of your boat.
Bring an anchor sufficient for the size boat you are operating. Wind will determine which way we toss anchors but please have one.
When approaching, please be aware of people in the water and the line of boats tied together. Any waves caused by your boat approaching can cause damage or disrupt the fun everyone else is trying to have.
Turn off music when approaching so any help offered for your docking can be heard, and you can easily be tied up.
Note there will be all ages attending this float so please refrain from any music that may be offensive to the little ones. We will have the loudest stereo(s) on the lake with us and will try to play general music everyone can enjoy but this is not a competition, if you want to play your music for a while we will let you.
We set up a swim area between the boats with big pads and ropes, etc., so please be aware of this area when coming and going.
Don’t be ‘that guy!’ When approaching, stop well before you get to the tie up and get your bumpers in place, ropes tied and ready to throw and turn the music down, so everyone can hear the captain’s commands.
This is an opportunity to make new friends on the lake and enjoy the day together. When someone approaches your boat, help them tie up safely and securely. If you are approaching, be considerate of who you are tying to, and have all of your bumpers and ropes ready. Return the favor for who ties to your boat.
“We hope to see everyone down at the dam,” organizers say with a final message: “Everyone be safe!”
Story by Roxann Edsall Submitted photos from Alabama Outdoors
Top photo by Cathy Flynn
Katie Faught had no plans to take up photography. That is, until she moved to Logan Martin Lake almost six years ago. In that time, she says, she’s seen so many beautiful sights that she just had to pick up a camera and start shooting. Her lenses capture the images of osprey, hawks, and eagles that nest and fish the waters of the Coosa River.
“I got my first Nikon camera and first telephoto lens five years ago and started getting serious about it,” says Faught. “We live in the slough by Knox Landing in Pell City. We have bald eagles and osprey that both nest nearby.” She photographs them just outside her house when the water is down. When the water comes back up, she and her husband, Brian, head out by boat to look for them.
For Faught and other eagle enthusiasts, there is good news. There will be more sightings of bald eagles around Logan Martin Lake, as their numbers nationwide and in Alabama continue to rise. According to Robyn Miller, director of Auburn University’s Raptor Center, there are about 100 nesting pairs of bald eagles in Alabama.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) oversees a program called the “mid-winter bald eagle survey,” a joint effort by many state and federal environmental agencies that annually tracks the location of eagles across the U.S. Dylan Shaw is a biologist in environmental affairs for Alabama Power and participates in the survey each year.
“We have been a part of that effort since 1993,” Shaw explains. “We track the eagles on the Coosa River on a rotating basis over a three-year period, surveying the upper Coosa on Neely Henry, the middle Coosa on Logan Martin, and the lower Coosa on Lay, Mitchell and Jordan lakes. Logan Martin was surveyed in 2024 and Neely Henry in 2023.” That survey revealed at least 15 bald eagles on Logan Martin and five on Neely Henry.
Eagle and osprey in flight
Photo by Katie Wade Faught
The numbers could be much higher, though, since the crews only survey from the water. “We take crews and survey the entire shoreline with about six observers searching with binoculars,” Shaw continued. “It’s all done in one day, and it’s just a snapshot. It reflects the minimum numbers that exist but really indicates that there are many eagles on our lakes.”
It took a special effort to bring bald eagles back to Alabama. In 1985, according to Chris Sykes, executive director of the Alabama Wildlife Center, there were no nesting pairs in our state. “There was a big push by the Alabama Department of Conservation,” Sykes said, “and between 1984 and 1991, they released 91 juvenile bald eagles into Alabama wild lands.”
Logan Martin resident Barnett Lawley was a part of Alabama’s efforts to repopulate the bald eagle when he served as the state’s commissioner of conservation under Governor Bob Riley from 2003 to 2011. He remembers participating in a program in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that relocated eaglets to Alabama from Alaska and Florida, states where the species was abundant.
Specialized biologists would remove some young birds from nests in those two states, transport them to Alabama and put them into large, enclosed habitats referred to as “hacking stations.”
“I don’t remember exactly how many, but the hacking stations were all over the state,” says Lawley. “The young birds were fed by humans but would never see the hands that were feeding them. They thrived and would begin to test their wings. They would fly out of the station and come back. They would do that many times and when a bird left and didn’t come back, you’d know it was looking for a mate.”
Each year, conservationists and biologists would survey the state to look for bald eagle nests. “U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided a small airplane so we could use it in our department,” adds Lawley. “We’d take it to do the yearly bald eagle surveys, and when we were doing other projects and saw a nest, we would put that location in the GPS, too. By the time the program ended, we had identified the locations of over 100 nests.”
Success story
The comeback of the bald eagle from near extinction is largely considered one of the most notable victories in the conservation world. In 1963, there were only 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles known to exist in the lower 48 states.
Fifteen years later, they were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The protections under that act, coupled with the banning of the synthetic pesticide DDT by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, created more favorable conditions for the birds, and their populations began to increase. By 2007, they were no longer listed as endangered.
The same favorable conditions that other anglers enjoy have helped bald eagles thrive on the Coosa. The coves and inlets provide many favorite fishing spots, and since fish is the primary food in a bald eagle’s diet, there’s every reason to love lake life. Small rodents, turtles and waterfowl can also fall victim to the talons of a hungry eagle, though they prefer an easier meal.
Eagles are opportunistic hunters and will steal another bird’s catch when they can. One of Katie Faught’s favorite photos, captured a few years ago, involved an egret who experienced just such a loss to an eagle.
“I call the series, ‘Lose Your Dinner,’” Faust laughs. “It was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had. I was photographing the egret who had caught dinner and was on the beach with his fish. Suddenly he flew off. I started to follow him with my camera, but then, for some reason, I looked back at the beach, and an eagle was there with the fish. He was eating the fish, swallows the head, then looks right at me. It just captured me. I was spellbound in that moment.”
The plentiful food supply and the abundance of tall, sturdy trees in which to build nests provides all that is necessary for eagles to thrive on Logan Martin and Neely Henry. Bald eagles are a migratory or semi-migratory species but always return to within 100 miles of the nest where they fledged.
“Birds only need nests for babies,” explains Sykes. “Outside of breeding season, birds just sleep in trees. Bald eagles come back because their nests are so durable, and it’s just easier to go back to that nest than to build a new one. Sometimes they may take a break from that one if it gets too dirty. They’ll let nature clean it up, then return another year.”
Up close and personal
Mike Wadsworth, owner of Wadsworth Blueberry Farm, has a bird’s eye view of a bald eagle’s nest on his property just off U.S. 231 South in Cropwell. The nesting pair, who showed up with their juvenile fledgling after the 2011 tornado that touched down near the Logan Martin dam, have returned every year since.
His family has watched them add to their nest or build one nearby each breeding season. “The other day I saw them working on it. They sometimes bring a limb so big they must work together to get it in,” Wadsworth says.
Bald eagles have a strong pair bond and will usually mate for life. And while they often return to the same nest each year for the breeding season, sometimes they have another nest nearby that they choose to use for a season or two.
Photo by
Katie Wade Faught
They will add to the nest each year to make repairs and make it stronger. In doing so, the nests grow larger and heavier, some as large as eight feet wide and weighing more than one ton. The weight of the nest, coupled with strong winds can sometimes break the tree or compromise the nest.
“The first year they nested here, they raised three fledglings,” recalls Wadsworth. “It was great to see how they strengthened their wings. They had three fledglings, and the third one didn’t want to hop out of the nest. The parent on the nest at the time was just fussing at the bird. It would cock its head and step toward it. It reminded me of a parent going after the teenage son who wasn’t doing right.”
Later, he watched as the birds hopped from limb to limb, a strength-building behavior called branching.
Wadsworth says he has learned a lot in the 14 years of having bald eagle neighbors. What surprised him most was the way bald eagles constantly talk to each other. Adults will call out in a scream, chatter or peal to each other, depending on what the circumstances dictate.
“They talk off and on, day and night,” says Wadsworth. “I can hear one of them call and look out across the lake toward River Oaks. That’s a good fishing spot. And you can see the juvenile coming home when he hears the call.”
Eagles’ nests have been spotted on Logan Martin near River Oaks, near the dam, near Riverside and near Ogletree Island. “I’ve tried to get photos of the ones near Ogletree Island,” said Faught. “I finally got pictures of two bald eagles not far from there. They were sitting on a plateau in the water, having just finished their dinner.”
Recognizing the difference
Being able to identify an eagle takes practice. Often osprey and hawks are misidentified as eagles and vice versa. Raptor Center’s Miller says identifying eagles can be tricky, especially with juveniles.
“We often think of bald eagles with distinctive white heads,” Miller explains, “but it takes four to five years for them to get their fully white feathers. Juveniles are uniformly brown and are commonly thought to be golden eagles. Bald eagles also have bald legs, while golden eagles are considered a booted species, meaning they have feathers that go all the way down to their feet.”
Eagles are quite large, weighing between seven and 10 pounds, with a wingspan of up to seven feet. They can be up to 40 inches tall, with males being slightly smaller than the females. Mature bald eagles have white heads and white tails, with yellow legs and feet and a bulky yellow beak.
An osprey is not as big and has a lot of white and brown colorations. Hawks have a shorter wingspan, with rounded wings and broad tails, as opposed to eagles who have straighter wings and longer tails.
Identifying the presence of nesting eagles is important because there are special precautions to take to protect the national bird. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, property building or tree cutting should be limited to permitted activities and not during breeding season.
Ideally, less human disturbance is best for these creatures that are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
“I talk to people all over the world,” says Faught of her photography contacts. “They are aghast that I can walk out my door and get pictures of these beautiful birds. The bad part is that I haven’t had to learn the extreme patience that so many photographers have had to.”
For the rest of us, enjoying the beauty of the bald eagles on the lake is just a time to live in the moment, unless you’re fast enough to grab your phone or your camera before they’ve soared away into a nearby tree or on down the river. But what a beautiful moment it is.
Editor’s Note: To report a bald eagle’s nest, contact the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division’s bald eagle coordinator (334) 242-3469.To report an injured bird, contact Game Warden Jason Bassett (256) 510-2467.
Iconic cooking competition returns to Noccalula Falls
Story by Scottie Vickery Submitted Photos
The first time Tony Skiroock heard his name announced as Grand Champion of a national barbecue competition, the moment was as sweet as some of the sauces the judges undoubtedly licked from their fingers.
The fact that it happened in Gadsden at the annual Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition, which will host its 16th contest April 11-12, made it an experience to savor even more. That’s because Skiroock’s mother, Frances Owens, grew up in Gadsden, and the grill master, who lives in Illinois, visited her hometown every summer as a child.
It’s where an aunt first introduced him to pit barbecue at the tender age of 6, and he was hooked after his first bite. Skiroock said he looked at his aunt and immediately asked her if he could move.
Lake life and barbecue is a perfect combination, and if you’re looking to see how some award-winning pitmasters do it, you won’t want to miss Smoke on the Falls, held at the Noccalula Falls Park Campground, this year.
Up to 72 teams from all over the country will compete in the backyard and professional divisions, and the event will also feature a Kidz-Q competition. On Saturday, there will be a variety of vendors offering unique goods and treats, and the Tim Roberts Band will provide live music starting at 2:30 p.m. before the 4:30 p.m. awards ceremony.
“It’s a lot of fun. We’re pretty proud of Smoke on the Falls,” said Janet Tarrance, special events director for the City of Gadsden. Known as the Barbecue Queen, Tarrance brought the competition to Gadsden and has spearheaded the event ever since.
Featured on the Food Network, the competition is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, the world’s largest organization of barbecue and grilling enthusiasts. KCBS, which has some 16,000 members worldwide, sanctions more than 400 barbecue competitions.
Three years ago, Smoke on the Falls added the Kidz-Q contest, allowing young chefs in two age groups (5-9 and 10-15) to show off their skills, with a little help from their parents. This year, the younger crew will cook hamburgers while the older kids will strive to grill the perfect pork tenderloin.
In the adult competition, participants in the professional division must cook four meats: ribs, chicken, brisket and butts. The backyard competitors will focus on chicken and ribs. There’s also a sides competition for interested professional and backyard teams, who can offer up their best grilled pizza and desserts.
While there’s plenty of fun to be had and lots of vendors offering mouth-watering wares, don’t go to the event expecting to eat your fill of everything on the grills and in the smokers.
“Some do give out samples, but their ultimate goal is to chase the points and win the prize,” Tarrance said.
Skiroock, whose team We Will Rock ‘Que, was named the Grand Champion at the event the past two years. He has been competing since 2016, he said, noting, “I’ve only started figuring it out.”
He started out watching BBQ Pitmasters and “tried to mimic what I saw,” before taking some classes. After tweaking ingredients, trying out different grills and smokers, and experimenting with cooking times and temperatures, “I finally started hearing my name called,” he said. “It’s a serious hobby.”
Tony Skiroock and son Daniel with the winnings
It’s so serious, in fact, that KSBS hosts full-day classes before judges, who are from all over the country, can be certified, said Tarrance. Although they’re not paid, there are other benefits to the job.
“A judge can gain 5 to 10 pounds in a single barbecue competition,” she said.
The Noccalula event has earned high marks from the KSBS, which selected Gadsden to be the host city for the KCBS World Invitational Championship, its largest competition, in 2022.
The Gadsden competition was chosen after being one of five competitions that Michael Symon, chef and restauranteur, selected to be featured on his Food Network show, BBQ USA.
The judges and competitors may take things seriously, but there’s lots of fun to be had. That’s evident in some of the team names that have competed in Smoke on the Falls. There’s Smoke Me Silly, Cool Hand Cue, Rooters-n-Tooters and Kick ‘Em in the Butt BBQ, to name a few.
In addition to Wine Me, Dine Me, Swine Me, other competitors have included the Dixie Pigs & Chicks, Bar-B-Queterie, Big Fluffy, and Swinging Pig Meat.
Skiroock said he’s enjoyed being a part of the competition world and meeting the other barbecue enthusiasts. “They call it the barbecue family,” he said. “We’re watching each other on Facebook, and we’re all happy for each other when they win.”
To a point, anyway, “It’s just like an Alabama/Auburn game,” Tarrance said. “These people come to win.”nity,” Housh said, pointing to the early vision of Woods. True to that mission, LakeFest has generated more than $500,000 for over 30 different nonprofit organizations over the past 15 years.
Recipes from Tony Skiroock
Pork Ribs
Ingredients:
Pork ribs (St. Louis trimmed or Baby Backs)
Salt, pepper, and garlic barbecue rub
All-purpose barbecue rub for pork
Light brown sugar or turbinado sugar
Honey
Unsalted butter or squeeze “butter”
Pepper sauce
Apple juice
Kansas City style barbecue sauce
Directions:
To prepare the ribs, trim off any excessive fat on the meat side of the ribs. If the membrane is still on the bone side of the ribs, remove it by slipping a butter knife under the membrane, lift it away high enough to slip your fingers under and pull the membrane off. It can also be scored with a sharp knife and left in place.
Sprinkle a basic salt, pepper and garlic rub on both sides of the ribs, then sprinkle both sides with your favorite all-purpose barbecue rub. Press the rubs into the meat, then place in the refrigerator for an hour or until the rubs look damp having absorbed some of the moisture from the meat.
Prepare your grill or smoker to run at 275-300° using indirect heat. Place the ribs, meat side up, on the grill and cook for one hour. Spritz with apple juice every 20 minutes.
After an hour, roll the ribs meat side down and cook for another hour, at which time the rub should have set into a nice “bark” that doesn’t smear with your finger.
Prepare a wrap with two layers of aluminum foil, long enough to cover the rib length plus a few inches on each end. Spread onto the foil ¼ cup of sugar, a drizzle of honey, a stick of butter cut into five planks (or a hearty drizzle of squeeze butter), a line of pepper sauce, a shake of barbecue rub and ¼ cup of apple juice. Place the ribs on the foil, meat side down, and fold the foil tightly around the slab.
Return the rib packet to the smoker.
After about an hour, the rib packet should start to feel floppy when lifted. You can open it up and check for doneness. The bone tips should be exposed by about a half inch, and a toothpick should slide easily into the meat. The slab should be floppy but not fall apart, unless you want them fall-off-the-bone tender, which might need about 90 minutes wrapped.
Gently heat the sauce in a saucepan, stirring regularly. Add a few squeezes of honey and a splash of apple juice to thin the sauce. Carefully open the rib packet and place the ribs on a cutting board. Brush the top and bottom with sauce, add a final shake of barbecue rub and return the ribs to the smoker for ten minutes to set the sauce.
BBQ Chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
Chicken wings
All-purpose barbecue rub
Unsalted butter
Kansas City style barbecue sauce
Apple juice
Honey
Directions:
To prepare the thighs, trim off any dangling skin or meat. With the wings, cut off the wing tip and, if desired, separate the flat from the drumette. Sprinkle all sides of the chicken with your favorite BBQ rub.
Prepare your grill or smoker to run at 300° using indirect heat. Place the chicken on the grate. After about an hour, the skin should be slightly browned and the meat firm.
Typically, at this point, the internal temperature of the chicken will be around 145°. Prepare enough half-size foil pans large enough to contain chicken pieces in a single layer. Place a stick of butter, cut into planks, in the bottom of each pan. Place the chicken, in a single layer, in the pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil. The butter and heat creates a steam bath that renders the fat in the skin, yielding bite-through skin.
Return to the cooker for an hour, rotating the pan after 30 minutes.
Gently heat the sauce in a saucepan, stirring regularly. Add a few squeezes of honey and a splash of apple juice to thin the sauce. After an hour, the chicken’s internal temperature should be around 200-208°, super tender and juicy. Dunk each piece in the sauce and return to the smoker for about 10 minutes to set the sauce.
Eric Housh stepped away from his work desk for a few minutes, taking a short break from his regular consulting job in marketing and sales technology solutions to talk about his ‘other job.’
That alternate work has become a passion of his that has evolved over the years, much like the event itself. He’s been heading up organizing and promoting Logan Martin LakeFest, billed as the South’s largest in-water boat show, since it launched 15 years ago. But as Housh will quickly tell you, it has grown into so much more.
While the focus is on a show for boats, personal watercrafts and even cars and trucks, this outdoor festival at Pell City Lakeside Park boasts something for everybody. It features dozens of lake lifestyle vendors, nonstop entertainment, food trucks, kids’ attractions, a spectacular fireworks show and a host of other events, drawing upwards of 40,000 people each year.
It began as a vision of the late Jerry Woods of Woods Surfside Marina; Fred Casey, former owner of Tradesman Docks; Joe Paul Abbott, developer of Horizons, and Lee Holmes, owner of Sylacauga Marine. They wanted to create an event that would draw people to Logan Martin, not only to browse their boats but to discover how special the lake and lake life really are.
Lakeside Park is the perfect location for the boat show
Come May 9-11, LakeFest will celebrate its 15th birthday in a grand way. “We say every year that we are beyond blessed with a community that supports us so well,” Housh said. “All the support makes it easier to do this year in and year out.”
Each year seems to outdo the year that came before it, and the burgeoning crowds attending simply underscore that Housh and company continue to fine tune a winning formula.
This year’s fireworks show will be bigger this year, highlighting special events on Friday night. Veterans from Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home are guests of honor for dinner and the fireworks show, escorted into the festival in a special ceremony saluting them. A record number of veterans attended in 2024.
Veterans, Housh said, always had a special place in Woods’ heart. His brother was killed in Vietnam, and veterans have been a focal point since the beginning of LakeFest.
This year’s version will bring a ‘first’ for LakeFest – an actual wedding will take place on Saturday. A couple had called and asked if it was possible to exchange their vows at LakeFest, and “we thought it was a crazy cool idea. All in attendance at LakeFest will be guests at the wedding,” Housh said. “We’ll have other fun stuff Saturday night. It will be a party atmosphere, something fun I think everybody will enjoy.”
Entertainment for the weekend will be centerstage and represent just about every genre possible. They are even looking to add bluegrass this year to its lineup of country, rock, folk and more. Prizes and giveaways will be awarded throughout the weekend.
Many hands are responsible for this unfolding success story. Justin Hogeland partners with Housh to oversee and plan this huge outdoor festival. Judy Carr and Kasey Flurry keep logistics running smoothly. And an army of volunteers – from golf cart shuttle drivers to traffic directors to helping hands wherever needed – report for duty early and stay late, ensuring the safety and enjoyment of the crowds that attend.
The sponsors make the whole event possible, and the vendors and entertainment help give it its wide-ranging appeal. The Splash Pad is sponsored free for kids Friday and Saturday, and for mothers, it’s Mimosas for Moms – free Mimosas and a rose on Sunday, honoring them on Mother’s Day.
LakeFest returns the favor, giving back to the community each year through its profits earmarked for charities as well as upgrades for Lakeside Park. The large Jerry Woods Memorial Pavilion, new docks and other improvements are courtesy of funding from LakeFest’s nonprofit, The Logan Martin Charity Foundation.
“We’re really proud of that. It’s been in our DNA to give back to the community,” Housh said, pointing to the early vision of Woods. True to that mission, LakeFest has generated more than $500,000 for over 30 different nonprofit organizations over the past 15 years.
The Spawning Season is officially here, and we’re excited to provide you with some quick tips, information, and best practices to kickstart your fishing adventure on the Coosa this season!
Water temperature plays a key role in predicting the fish spawning cycle. Pre-spawn begins in late winter or early spring, with bass feeding aggressively to build up for the spawn. On the Coosa, bass typically spawn in the spring when the water temperature reaches around 60°F. Post-spawn fish tend to head back toward the main channel or deeper waters.
During mid to late spring, fish are commonly found in shallow bays at the backs of coves. Before you head out, be sure to check current weather conditions and forecasts—not only for your safety, but also because fish behavior can change with the weather.
To help sustain healthy fish populations, never underestimate the power of catch-and-release on the Coosa River! Minimize handling time and exposure to air. If you aren’t planning to take a photo, please consider releasing the fish without touching it or using a net.
Keep your livewell clean and ensure the water is circulating throughout your fishing trip. As a general guideline, aim for no more than 1 pound of bass per gallon of water. Understand your livewell’s capacity and fill it to about three-quarters full to start. Be sure to give it a good clean before you hit the water this season!
For more fishing tips, to find your next hot spot, and to learn about local fish consumption advisories, check out our website. It’s your go-to resource for everything you need to know about fishing the Coosa! Visit CoosaRiver.org/FishGuide or scan the QR code!
Also, we’re gearing up for Swim Guide 2025 and looking for sponsors to help offset the cost of this public program! Sponsorships start at just $250 and help your business be seen across the watershed over 2 million times! Swim Guide’s goal is to provide YOU with water quality updates at popular recreation sites along the river, so you can make informed decisions about where to spend your summer days on the Coosa. Ready to dive in? Email info@coosariver.org to learn more!
Follow Coosa Riverkeeper on Facebook & Instagram @CoosaRiverkeeper For more information, swim over to www.CoosaRiver.org.
