West Kentucky Community & Technical College

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WKCTC Chefs Part of Prize Winning Barbecue on the River Team

Paducah, KY (10/05/2017) — West Kentucky Community and Technical College Chefs Patrick Fletcher and Jessi Donaldson were part of the community group, Cartel, that took home a host of honors at Paducah's 2017 Barbecue on the River September 28-30.

More than 40,000 people have come to downtown Paducah for the last 24 years to enjoy a weekend of great barbecue, lively entertainment, and exquisite crafts while raising money for a host of charitable organizations. While the 35 plus barbecue teams from western Kentucky and beyond cooked up over 80,000 pounds of pork and chicken in the hopes of taking home the coveted Grand Champions trophy, Cartel brought a uniqueness to the event with many vegetarian entrees and sides, like a veggie taco and cornbread salad.

Proceeds raised went to the Maiden Alley Cinema and restoration of Columbia Theatre downtown.

In addition to raising money for a worthy cause, Chef Fletcher, who is the coordinator of WKCTC's Culinary Arts program, and Chef Donaldson, who is food services supervisor for WKCTC's Kitchens Cafe, helped Cartel walk off with the first place trophy in the Anything But Winners - wings category. They also tied for second with Deez Butts in the Anything but Winners - sauce category. They placed third in the Anything but Winners category for beef and for seafood categories. Congratulations Chef Patrick and Chef Jessi!

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WKCTC's Chef Jessi Donaldson and Chef Patrick Fletcher, members of Cartel, hold the first place trophy their team won at this year's Barbecue on the Year in Paducah.

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