1
Mar

How to make a grown man cry

OppBBQ_GroupThere was not a dry eye in the house as the spontaneous and generous donations came rolling in during the final night of the National Barbecue Association convention.

A little background: We met Will Cleaver, Stan Hays, and Jeff Stith from Operation BBQ Relief at the 2012 NBBQA Convention in San Diego. Operation BBQ Relief is 501c3 not-for-profit disaster relief organization that provides hot, nutritious meals to those in need after a natural disaster. In only 21 months since their founding, OBR has served 311,200 meals in 14 states after such disasters as the Joplin tornado, Hurricane Isaac, Super Storm Sandy, the Colorado wildfires, and more.

While we were unable to travel to the Joplin tornado site, we were so impressed with their mission and we’ve tried to support each deployment with money and dry rub. We’ve also solicited generous donations from our preferred purveyors, notably Townsend Spice and Wichita Packing. Little did we know that five days after meeting in person, the OBR guys would be right in our backyard serving first responders, volunteers, and victims of the devastating Harrisburg, Illinois tornado.

During that time we were able to loan them equipment, cook some of the side dishes and barbecue in our restaurants, and more importantly, work side by side to prepare and serve the food. That project remains one of the most heart-wrenching and heartwarming activities in which we’ve been involved.

We wanted to honor and recognize the group during the convention and we hoped our gift would inspire others to give during the year as the need arises. I’m not sure quite what I said as I presented the check, but my voice cracked a bit as I choked back tears. I don’t think Jon Orr, Operation BBQ Relief secretary, will mind me sharing that he could barely speak through his own tears and I saw others in the crowd wiping their eyes as well.

Little did we anticipate the domino effect set into motion. Our new friend and first-time conference attendee Frank Ostini, pitmaster and winemaker from The Hitching Post II was so moved that he came over and whispered in my ear that he wanted to donate. More first-timers, Sonny’s boys Rich Lucy, Scott Frantz, and Bryan Smith, called their CEO, Bob Yarmuth, and woke him up, asking for funds. Jamie Doherty, Chris Doherty, and David Doherty from BBQ Feast in Ontario approached me next. “We don’t have natural disasters in Canada,” they said. “But we want to help our neighbors to the south.”

Steven Baum, a Detroit-area Famous Dave’s owner, solicited a group donation from Brad Orrison, Craig Kimmel, Scott Shugars, DennyMike Sherman, and Famous Dave Anderson himself. More tears as David Haskett came up and pressed a roll of bills in my hand and said, “We don’t have much, but we want you to have this.” Gregg Snyder won a Yeti cooler during the auction and he donated that to the cause. David Dunn approached the stage, checkbook in hand, just as we were winding up the evening. And finally, when George Newsom won the Meadowcreek pit raffle, valued at $6,500, he took the microphone and said, “In the spirit of the generosity demonstrated this evening, I’m donating this to Operation BBQ Relief ….” Then tears really began to flow.

After the event I went downstairs and discovered Joe Duncan of Baker’s Ribs at the bar. “Where were you?” I joked. “I needed you to give some money upstairs!” He found a check and made a generous donation as well.

The grand total for the evening’s donations was $21,650.

I’m pretty sure you’ll see more coverage of this monumental evening in the April National Barbecue News, the industry newspaper that’s delivered monthly if you’re an NBBQA member. If you’re not a member and would like to join, please click here. If you’d like to simply subscribe to the newspaper, please click here.

To each and every one of you, from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU. We have never been prouder to be part of the barbecue community. And I hope everyone reading this will be inspired to PARTICIPATE and GIVE. Become a fan on the Operation BBQ Relief Facebook page and when you see that they are deploying to a disaster area, volunteer onsite or send cash, dry rub, barbecue sauce, or meat. Encourage your vendors to donate as well. No gift is too small.

Barbecue is comfort food and it soothes the soul. The act of cooking for one another and providing nourishment in times of trouble is the most basic and tender way to care for another human being. When you provide resources to Operation BBQ Relief you will receive far more than you can ever give. Please support this fine work. You just never know when they may need to show up right in your own backyard.

28
Feb

Road trippin' to the National Barbecue Association Convention

The 1-7 crew just returned from an outstanding five-day trip to Mobile, Alabama for the National Barbecue Association’s annual convention. Expertly planned by Linda Orrison and her committee {of which our own Becky Streuter was a part}, the conference is five full days of restaurant tours, educational seminars led by industry leaders, judging classes, a butcher shop seminar, and a trade show.

NBBQA_Feb2013

We plan all of our road trips around food stops and this journey was no exception. The first stop was Edley’s in Nashville, where our group enjoyed an outstanding meal. One of the owners, Will Newman, has attended several of our OnCue Consulting seminars and we have heard well-deserved rave reviews about the restaurant which has been open for a little over a year. We were sorry to miss Will, but we will return soon! The second stop was to visit our long-time friends Chris Lilly and Ken Hess at Big Bob Gibson Barbecue. From the warm welcome message on the sign to the feast presented by Chris and Ken, we were treated like royalty.

Tuesday’s kick-off tour included an exclusive look behind the scenes at the entire Beau Rivage Casino and Resort operation including the Memphis Q restaurant which Mike helped open 13 years ago this week. He was delighted to see Kristian Wade, the only kitchen crew left from the time in which he consulted on the project. Kristian is now the sous chef and he is turning out terrific barbecue. The Saucery, where The Shed bottles its extensive collection of sauces and seasonings, was fascinating. The highlight of the day was the after party where we got “fed at The Shed,” listened to a terrific band, and visited with friends. There might have been a gallon of coconut moonshine involved. {Does anyone have a glass?}

The rest of the conference was equal parts education and fun. We soaked up knowledge and new ideas during the seminars, sampled barbecue at five terrific Mobile barbecue joints. Mike and I presented several educational seminars and a few of our gang are newly minted KCBS judges. We visited with friends new and old as we sampled Mobile nightlife and restaurants, notably Felix’s, Wintzell’s Oyster House, and our perpetual late-night hangout, Veet’s, which provided us with great live music, plenty of libations, and mighty fine burgers.

Barbecue Ribs and Magic Dust Dry Rub

Mike appeared in several segments on the local FOX Studio 10 WALA channel to promote the Saturday public day which included a barbecue cook-off with 20 local teams, a trade show, People’s Choice barbecue and barbecue sauce sampling and voting which was open to the general public. Despite a little rain, the people of Mobile came out in droves to enjoy the day.

Next year’s convention will be in San Marcos, Texas. Click here to learn more or join NBBQA.