LUMBERTON — As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. Just ask Thomas and Kayla Lindsay, a father and daughter barbecue cooking team.

The Lindsays, who operate Big T’s Backyard BBQ in Burgaw, took first place for best barbecue Saturday in the barbecue cook-off at the Carolina Smokin’ Fall Fling and Ol’ Timers Day held at the Robeson County fairgrounds. The Lindsays also placed first in the barbecue contest category for showmanship.

“You don’t know how hard we have been working for this,” an elated Thomas said. “We’ve been going to cook-offs for three years. At each one we have been getting a little better. Now we finally made it.”

In addition to the $1,000 first place prize for the best barbecue and a $150 first place prize for showmanship, the Lindsays now qualify to participate in the annual state barbecue cook-off.

“We’ve won some smaller cook-offs, but this is the first time we’ve won a state qualifying one,” Kayla said. “We’ve really worked hard.”

The Lindsays competed against 13 other teams for $2,000 in prize money. The other two team winners in the best barbecue category were: The Flaming Pig, of Red Springs, second place; and Ziggy’s Piggy, of Tar Heel, third place.

Although Butch Kelly, of Butts ‘R’ Us in Waxhaw, won second place in the showmanship category, he said prior to the winners being announced that he enjoys just participating in cook-offs even more than winning.

“You meet a lot of good people at these events,” said Kelly, a mechanical engineer. “For me, this is a hobby.”

Bill Prevatte, who chaired the cook-off, said that there were a good group of barbecue cooks at the event, including four local teams from Robeson County.

“Every pig was cooked well,” Prevatte said. “The judges were highly impressed at how well everyone did.”

The cook-off was just one of the featured events at the festival organized by the Lumberton Tractor and Old Iron Club and the Borderbelt Horseman’s Association. The event was held to benefit the association’s scholarship fund, a fund that association president Cecil Jackson has said will hopefully provide a $500 scholarship to each of five college students.

Included in Saturday’s activities was a lawnmower pull, arts and crafts show, displays of antique tractors and old farm equipment, a tractor and a draft horse pull. There was also a large variety of food, and music provided throughout the day.

The festival marked the first major show sponsored by the Lumber River Old Iron Tractor Club — which formed less than two years ago — said Ronnie Allen, the club’s vice president. He said that about 70 antique tractors were on display.

“We hope to make this an annual event,” Allen said. “We want to show how farming was done years ago.”

Sandra Allen, also a member of the club, described the display of antique tractors and old farm equipment as a “chance to revisit the good times.”

“Our goal is to get younger people interested in how farming was done in the past so that the old ways don’t die out,” she said.

Organizers of the event had predicted that more than 7,000 people would attend. After starting off with a rainy morning, however, it was evident that such a high number would not be reached.

“The weather definitely made the crowd smaller, but we do have a lot of people enjoying what we have,” said Hubert Bullard, the vender chairman for the event. “We hope now that we will have about 2,500 people attending.”

While the rain may have put a damper on plans by many to attend the festival, it didn’t stop Henry B. Lowery, 72, of Saddletree, who said he attends the event every year.

“I follow anything that has to do with farming,” he said. “I grew up on a farm and love it. I especially love horses.”

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Winners in the barbecue contest:

Best Barbecue

— 1st: Big T’s Backyard BBQ, Burgaw ($1,000)

— 2nd: The Flaming Pig, Red Springs ($500)

— 3rd: Ziggy’s Piggy, Tar Heel ($300)

Showmanship:

— 1st: Big T’s Backyard BBQ, Burgaw ($150)

— 2nd: Butts ‘R’ Us, Waxhaw ($100)

— 3rd: Lee Hammonds ($50)

Anything but Butts:

— 1st: Ziggy’s Piggy, Tar Heel ($100)

— 2nd: Black Ankle BBQ, Black Ankle ($50)

— 3rd: Rocking Pig BBQ, Laurinburg ($25)