Steve Woods of El Paso’s Calk-Clarke team stirs beans. Photos by Linda Byrne

Even a physical ailment couldn’t keep Glen Dorn of St. Hedwig from rising at 5 a.m. on Saturday to start a fire and begin cooking chuck wagon fare.

By 11 a.m. Dorn, who was nursing a pulled muscle, was seated in front of a big pan of sizzling chicken fried steak, getting a crust on his specialty he hoped would be pleasing to the judges.

Several hours later, at the awards ceremony, Dorn and his fellow Rafter D cook, Mary Sparkman, were rewarded with fifth place in the chicken fried steak category.

Fifteen chuck wagons from across Texas competed for $10,000 in prizes at the Boerne Chuck Wagon Cook-off at the Agricultural Heritage Museum. The food categories were: chicken fried steak; potatoes, beans, bread and cobbler. There also was a “most authentic wagon” category and best overall competition.

At the Ranch 22 chuck wagon from Comfort, wagon owners Jon and Janelle Marks greeted cook-off attendees as their culinary team of Craig Davis and Duncan Parrish worked to prepare dough for cobbler, enough to feed the judges and guests who paid $15 entry fees that entitled them to sample the fare throughout the grounds.

Jon and Janelle Marks of Comfort own the Ranch 22 chuckwagon.

“My mom makes all of my costumes,” said Janelle Marks, who wore a black cotton dress evocative of the 1880s, the time period the wagons were recreating.

At the Calk-Clarke chuck wagon from El Paso, meanwhile, Steve Woods stirred a pot of beans as he reflected on 10 years of competition.

The team has been featured on the Food Network in the Challenge segments twice, both times as a result of competing at the Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium in Ruidoso, N.M. The team of Woods, Skip Clarke, Wayne Calk and Clayton Calk represents two generations but works together as a well-oiled machine.

Donnie Demoin of LaVernia’s Circle D team moves a pot holding the team’s entry in the bread category. The Circle D wagon won third place for its yeast rolls.

Despite campfire techniques honed to perfection, Woods said team members do it strictly for enjoyment and only occasionally.

“Us older guys are retired, and competing all the time too closely resembles work,” Woods quipped.