Jim Emig: owner of Jim Dandy's Family BBQSHARONVILLE - It starts as a really big cooking party, said Roger Cagle.

Folks from across the region gather in Jim Dandy's Family BBQ parking lot, gabbing and making friends.

Barbecue fanatics rumble into the parking lot, some with their own huge, homemade smokers in tow.

By the next morning, the once-jovial cooks have bloodshot eyes, said Cagle, a Green Township resident who remembers staying up all night cooking with his team last September in Jim Dandy's parking lot.

"Everyone's having a good time. Some work too hard, some of them don't work hard enough. The next day - you're there 24 hours - you're pretty tired."