Faith and Determination Lead Robert Dowell to a Chickin’ Pickin’ Championship

Harrington, DE – The 9^th edition of the Mountaire Chickin’ Pickin’ Championship took place at the Delaware State Fair on Friday, July 20^th and featured a faithful twist courtesy of 88.7 the Bridge and the twenty local youth pastors who participated.  Cloudy and cool conditions didn’t keep the crowd away as hundreds crammed inside the tent to catch the action and perhaps cheer on their particular pastor; each one competing for a $700 donation for their church.

The faith and family friendly event kicked off at 5pm with four rounds of meat picking action scheduled to determine four finalists.  In round 1, Jordan Forston of Gethsemane United Methodist Church in Bridgeville, DE, picked and shredded 9.93 lbs to take the top spot.  DaCraig Gibson of Church of the King in Easton, MD, earned the second spot in the finals with 11.36 lbs.  In round 3, Robert Dowell of New Life Baptist Church in Milford, DE, was the victor with 12.77 lbs and Zach Smith of the United Deliverance Bible Center in Georgetown, DE, rounded out our final four with 11.9 lbs. 

Incredibly, the twenty competitors burned through a record 150 oven roasted ‘birds in the preliminary rounds which brought about a unique twist for the finals.  Instead of five minutes of meat picking pandemonium, the final frame was shortened to a 1-minuted speed round.  After a furious 60 seconds Robert Dowell claimed the title with 5.39 lbs earning the $700 donation for New Life Baptist Church in Milford, DE!  Zach Smith was runner-up with 4.36 lbs, earning a $300 donation for the United Deliverance Bible Center in Georgetown, DE.   In the spirit of giving, Mountaire pledged to donate $200 each to Gethsemane UMC and Church of the King in light of the excellent efforts put forth by finalists Jordan Forston and DaCraig Gibson.  In all, Mountaire will be donating $1,400 to the area churches.

As a special thank you to all involved, the twenty youth pastors were treated to a meet and greet with Christian recording artists Casting Crowns prior to their performance at the Delaware State Fair and the top two finishers went on the concert stage to receive their prizes.   Mountaire President and CEO Paul Downes also presented 88.7 the Bridge with a $500 donation for supporting the Chickin’ Pickin’ event.   

For more information on the Mountaire Chickin’ Pickin’ Championship visit www.mountaire.com/chickinpickin/.  

What is Chickin’ Pickin’?
In the simplest terms, our winners are determined by who can pick and shred the most meat from our oven roasted chicken(s) in a 5 minute time frame.  Contestants will have access to an unlimited amount of cooked ‘birds, HOWEVER, they must pick and shred all the meat from a single bird before moving on to a new one.  That includes meat from the breast, thighs, legs, wings and back.  The picked meat is thrown into a collection tray, which gets weighed at competition’s end to determine our winner. Contest judges are on hand to specify when a contestant’s bird is deemed fully picked, thus allowing them to start a new one.  This process will go on for the entire (5) minutes. There can be zero bones or large chunks of meat in the collection tray.  Such items will be removed before being weighed.