By Lee Roberts

TIAA Executive Director

KOSCIUSKO, Texas – The heavy scent of mesquite, barbecue, chicken, sausage and pork chops was surpassed here today only by the sample tastes of entrees from the 51 teams represented at the 4th Annual K-Town Cook Off.  Team “4S BBQ,” which is sponsored by the Texas Independent Automotive Association Alamo Chapter, competed in all categories and earned a place at the final table with chicken.

Team "4S BBQ" consists of (Left to right) Tabatha, Eric, Destiny and Shawn Steubing, Natalie Purcell, Julie and Joe Serrano.  Photos by Lee Roberts

The Alamo Chapter recently agreed to sponsor “4S BBQ” to help the amateur team compete on the local cooking circuit and to use the publicity gained to promote the organization’s website.  The goal is to get traffic to the online “Find A Shop” tool and to help market and direct people to TIAA member automotive and collision shops.

As sponsor, TIAA provided the team some cash, a large banner, several embroidered aprons with the TIAA logo, and business cards that people can pocket in order to remember how to find a TIAA shop.

“It’s a great way to brand our name in and around San Antonio,” said Wayne Van Den Berghe, Alamo Chapter president.  “Everyone loves good barbecue and this gets people of all walks of life to go to our website.  There, they can learn more about car maintenance and repair, find a shop, and hopefully to trust their car repairs with the quality shops in the TIAA network.”

Destiny Steubing receives a medal for finishing seventh in the Children's Cook Off event for her pork chop entrée.

The team “4S BBQ,” which consists of Shawn and Tabatha Steubing, Joe and Julie Serrano, Natalie Purcell, and the Steubing’s children Eric, 13, and Destiny, 9, said they are grateful for the sponsorship and plan to garner notoriety and publicity for TIAA.

“We’re very grateful for the sponsorship,” Shawn said during the K-Town Cook-Off.  “We’ve been working very hard to develop our recipes and to hone our processes to improve our standing at these events.  We’re cooking against teams that have been doing this for a lot of years.”

The 4S BBQ team slow cooks its special marinated barbecue in a new grill they built on a trailer just for the competitions.  Joe said the team recently enjoyed some early success, placing in the top 10 in several events and as high as third in the rib competition during an event at Pleasanton, Texas. 

The K-Town event, sanctioned by the International Barbecue Cookers Association, included a Children’s Cook Off of pork chops.  Destiny placed seventh in the event.  Shawn later commented that his daughter devised her own winning seasonings and recipe.   “She actually placed higher than we did here,” he said.  “I’m just really proud of her.”