Back in mid October a lady named Diane Dillon posted on the SCBA message board that she needed some help. Diane was planning a fundraiser called Hoofin’ for Heroes. Her group is horse enthusiasts, and they were planning a trail ride to benefit the Wounded Warriors. I saw the post early in the morning and had a feeling I would be talking to Bob about this before the day was done. Sure enough, late in the afternoon I received a call from Bob and he had already decided to champion the cause.Carolina Pit Masters is always ready to help out a great cause. Diane had two hogs donated to her and she wanted to serve a barbecue dinner to the riders after the trail ride. Unfortunately, Diane couldn’t find anyone locally to donate time and resources to her cause. It was Bob to the rescue. Terry Thrasher and Seth Watari had answered Diane’s post too. Bob is a natural organizer. He stepped up and took control of the planning and organizing of the dinner and started to do what Bob does. After some networking and phone work, Bob had managed to get enough resources focused to provide Diane with a full catered dinner for the end of her trail ride at no cost to her. There was going to be a conglomeration of personalities together for this event and I was looking forward to the opportunity to work with great people for a great cause.
The crew was set. Carolina Pit Masters with Bob at the helm, Mike Fields from Mikes Catering, Terry Thrasher at Primal Q, Mike Meadows and his crew with Beer, Bean & BBQ, Billy Montana and Jack’s Place, Big Hat Al and Debbie Werts, Seth and Nona Watari, Charlie Dickens, Garland and Rebecca Hudgins with Big GQ, and Mike and Vicky Adams from Po Boys BBQ Sauce would all band together and produce a dinner that would make a soldier proud. These people deserve great recognition for the work they produced. Everyone had a ball and dinner was well received.
Mike Fields had arranged to have a large tent donated, but couldn’t attend the cook. Mike had a previous commitment. Bob, Mike and Al were going to go to Whitmire and set up the tent Thursday afternoon. I was committed to work Thursday, Mary and I would go Friday as would most of the rest of the crew. Billy Montana, Garland & Rebecca, and Mike & Vicky would come up Saturday.
Thankfully, the trip was uneventful and Mary and I arrived before Noon on Friday. Bob had the campsite set up and was wrapping up a few odd jobs. We didn’t need to pull a cooker for this event. Terry Thrasher and Mike Meadows would be providing the heat for the hogs and butts. Seth Watari was donating 10 Boston Butts and wanted to cook. Mike was going to fire a cooker for him. My job was to provide entertainment and supervision, and make sure the dinner cater went as planned. Since entertainment is my specialty and catering is a timing issue, I wasn’t worried. As the day progressed, the crews arrived. Al first, then Terry and Mike with their cookers, Charlie was the last of the cook team, Debbie and Tanner Werts would arrive later in the evening.
The night’s festivities went as usual. The temperature was supposed to get into the low twenties so Charlie built us a nice fire. The music filled the winter night and adult beverages were consumed for warmth. The hogs went on the pits about 4am and Mike and Terry tended the fires though out the day. Mike was going to cook his hog using what is known as the Myron method. Filled with injection, and wrapped in foil for the entire cook. I was looking forward to tasting the results first hand. Terry was using his Carolina Grill. His hog was parted out by the butcher and would be cooked in four pieces. I knew Terry was up to the task.
The cook went along pretty much as planned. We mingled with the horse riders and met many of the fine young people who were there with the military to volunteer their time to support Diane’s cause. Lunch was provided and the fire burned all day to take the edge off of the chill. Around 4pm it was time to get ready for dinner. We let the pits fall back so the meat would be cool enough to handle and started to make BBQ. Seasonings, spices and sauces were added while the Billy Montana crew worked up the beans and slaw. Everyone enjoyed the dinner. Hash was provided by the butcher of Terry’s hog and Diane had purchased some cookies that topped off the dinner nicely.
Awards, and thank yous followed dinner and the night time party kicked off. There were two fires going. Whenever you have two things going at the same time, there’s going to be a contest on which fire is better. “Competitive Bob” wouldn’t be out done and soon there were two roaring fires blazing, music was blaring and the beverages flowed freely. It was a great time. The party lasted into the early morning hours. The temperature dipped a bit to low for my tired bones and I turned in. I knew we would have a job the next day, cleaning and packing up to leave. Mary and I slept well.
We rose early and went to a local truck stop for breakfast. We joked and laughed our way through a country breakfast. Garland always says “it good to be among friends” and I couldn’t agree more.
We arrived back at the campgrounds, cleaned up and broke down all of the equipment we toted out. It only took up a couple of hours to get it all put away. Garland volunteered to tow Mikes grill back to Newberry, we all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
I’m blessed to be able to work with the crew of people I call friends. This event represented a cause that we feel strongly about. I only hope that we could help raise enough money to help the heroes out in some way. We’ll keep you posted on the success.
