By By MaryClaire Foster
Atmore couple John and Kathy Swift will be honored with one of the state’s most prestigious awards on Tuesday at the state capital.
Kathy Swift said she and her husband have come a long way since they started in 2001 and are honored to receive such an award.
The Swifts hard work paid off and has earned them The Governor’s Cup, a barbecuing award determined by taking barbecue teams’ highest scores from state competitions.
They will receive the award at an Alabama Tourism event where the Swifts and three other teams cook for legislators in Montgomery.
The Swifts participated in the required five state sanctioned barbecue contests in 2008 and after placing in a competition in Demopolis this past December, knew they had won The Governor’s Cup
The Swifts finished 2008 ranked as 11th in the nation overall, third in ribs nationwide and placed in the Top 20 in the nation in both brisket and chicken. Rankings are out of 4,300 official teams in the nation.
The Swifts got into barbecue competitions eight and a half years ago after United Cerebral Palsy out of Mobile wanted a grill team for promotional purposes.
From there the Swift’s now use a custom built pit to create their award winning barbecue.
Butler said what makes this team special besides their special barbecue talent are their well-recognized personalities.
From the event at the Capitol on Tuesday, the Swifts will leave for another barbecue event in Mobile.