AUSTIN, Texas — If the multi-hour wait times and lines wrapped around the building are any indicator, Franklin Barbecue is pretty famous. So famous, it's now earned an association with the Barbecue Hall of Fame.
Aaron Franklin, the pitmaster behind the Austin barbecue joint, has been inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame.
This year's semi-finalists included:
- William (Bill) Arnold of Washington, Missouri
- Joe Don Davidson of Stillwater and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (WINNER)
- Meathead Goldwyn of Chicago, Illinois
- John Markus of London, Ohio (past), and Manhattan, New York (present)
- Desiree Robinson of Memphis, Tennessee (WINNER)
- Rodney Scott of Charleston, South Carolina
- Darren Warth of Des Moines, Iowa
- Lee Ann Whippen of Chicago, Illinois (past), and Tampa, Florida (present)
The Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Missouri, inducts three individuals every year it believes has had a large impact on the world of barbecue. They accept nominees for a full calendar year and, this year, there were 60 people included in the nomination process.
At the end of the nomination period, each person is reviewed by the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, which then reduces the list to nine. Those nine individuals are then reviewed and voted upon by the Hall of Fame voting members, which includes the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and all living Hall of Fame inductees.
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This year's winners were announced on May 27. The Barbecue Hall of Fame Induction ceremony and events were held during the 41st American Royal World Series of Barbecue held at the Kansas Speedway, Sept. 18-20.
The American Royal Association became the home of the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2012.
C.B. Stubblefield, the late founder of Stubb's Bar-B-Q in Downtown Austin, was inducted last year.
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