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More than 5,000 tickets were sold to the first-ever Lubbock ChowDown for Charity held Friday, Aug. 26, 2005, on the grounds of Texas Tech University. Twenty-three cooking teams competed for $24,000 in cash prizes which were donated to each winning team's designated charity. In addition, PlainsCapital Chairman and CEO Alan B. White presented Texas Tech Head Football Coach Mike Leach with a $10,000 donation to the Texas Tech Athletic Scholarship Fund.
Earlier this spring, White came up with the idea for a fall event that would bring together the entire city of Lubbock to raise money for local charities. His requirements for the event included that it be open to the public and that it include a barbecue cook-off among civic groups. And thus, the Lubbock ChowDown for Charity was born.
In addition to PlainsCapital Bank, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and Covenant Health System signed on as underwriters of the event which was held in conjunction with Texas Tech Autograph Day. Proceeds from sponsorships, ticket and drink sales will be donated to the Lubbock United Way and other local charities.
The cooking teams began setting up their smokers in Texas Tech Jones SBC Stadium parking lot Thursday evening and smoked briskets, ribs and sausages throughout the night and into the next day. In all, a total of 550 briskets, 600 pounds of sausage and 54 racks of ribs were cooked and served to ChowDown guests. Leach was head judge or "Barbecue Boss" with his assistant coaches making up the rest of his judging team.
The event, which opened to the public at 5 p.m. on Friday, featured entertainment by local musician Bo Garza, bounce houses and activities for children and a pie-eating contest with Texas Tech football players.
White took the stage early in the evening to announce PlainsCapital's donation to the Texas Tech Athletic Foundation Scholarship Fund. Expecting a $5,000 contribution, Leach was surprised to learn that White had upped the donation to $10,000.
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal also announced two winners of its Make Kids Count Scholarship contest. Elizabeth O'Briant, 10, won a $10,000 savings bond and Aric Varner, 9, won a $5,000 savings bond. During the award presentation, PlainsCapital Bank Regional Chairman John C. Owens announced a surprise $5,000 matching gift for Aric from PlainsCapital Bank bringing his savings bond total to $10,000.