Pearsall’s Leonard Stewart is posthumous fair honoree

By Editor | March 5, 2025

“Fire, friends and fellowship…”

The La Salle County Fair Association announced recently that it will dedicate this year’s event to Leonard Stewart of Pearsall, who headed a Wild Hog Cook-Off team for a number of years and earned several trophies for his food.
The annual La Salle County Fair, Wild Hog Cook-Off, Junior Livestock Show & Ranch Rodeo are underway this week; a formal ceremony opening the event and announcing the dedication will be held in the Fair Pavilion on the fairgrounds at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 6.
Stewart succumbed to cancer in 2024, four years after the last time that he took an active role in the La Salle County Fair with his renowned Chillin’-n-Grillin’ team.
Family and friends report that they continue mourning his loss at a young age but that they find comfort in the recognition for the many years Stewart contributed to the fair and specifically to the Wild Hog Cook-Off.
It has been a longstanding tradition by the fair association to dedicate the event to an individual or family who have served in an integral role, both in participation and promotion, and whose part in the entire event or any of the many components of the fair have helped increase the community’s enjoyment, furthered the scholarship causes benefiting local students, and helped promote the fair and cook-off across and beyond La Salle County.

Leonard Stewart

Stewart leaves a legacy of respect, faith, camaraderie and friendly competition that had a long-lasting impact on the cook-off, according to the association in its dedication.
Stewart founded and took the role of head cook for Chillin’-n-Grillin,’ a decorated barbecue cook-off team that began earning top accolades in 1980.
Over the course of nearly 40 years, Stewart was a staple at the cook-off. He and his team, which consisted of his loving wife, Gail; son Ben; and friends and family, Cliff Keck, Shannon and Sloan Triplitt, Andy Odom, Wayne and Breyana Segura, and Bradley Bacon, prepped for the anticipated weekend all year round. It was customary for the group to gather at the Stewarts’ house and collect wood, hunt hogs, process meat and try new recipes.
Stewart did not mind the work one bit, as this was time well spent with his family and friends, which was something he loved more than barbecuing.
A man of few words, Stewart took competing seriously but also had fun while doing it.
“Fire, friends, and fellowship,” he would say after the entries were turned in and everyone took a minute to catch their breath. “There is nothing better than this.”
When it was time to hear who won, Stewart would load his apron with as many cold Keystones as he could and walk to the pavilion to have those celebratory drinks when his name was called over and over again.
The Chillin’-n-Grillin’ team took the reserve championship in 2008, 2015, and 2017; and the overall grand championship in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2011, and 2016. Furthermore, the team ranked in the top three finalists in at least two competition divisions at each annual event over a span of 16 years.
In 2020, the last year Stewart and his crew cooked, and two years before his cancer diagnosis, someone asked him what he was going to do with all those awards.
“I am going to donate them back,” he said as he and his team were loading them into tubs to haul back home.
He did just that.
Not only an avid participant on the barbecue side of the festival, Stewart never felt too old to play and participated in the inaugural Wild Hog Olympics.
“I am twenty years older than any of them kids and I still kicked their ass,” he was heard to comment with his trademark quirky giggle after the completion was over.
“He was humble, kind-hearted and pure, which meant fairgoers were drawn to him,” the fair association writes in its announcement for the dedication this year. “Stewart was always set up in his same spot every year and he had a fan club, to say the least. Attendees knew he always had extra food and would offer samples to anyone willing to try the team’s creations that year. Perhaps his favorite thing to do was to get a gordita from Mrs. Berrones once all was said and done.”
Although Stewart’s loss is still fresh in their minds and those snake boots will be hard to fill, his teammates report that they will light the fire at the cook-off this year and barbecue in his honor.