Last night at 5:30 the gates to Tom Lee Park opened for Friends & Family Night, and I walked in and headed straight to our booth at the south end of the park. Here’s the first look at the finished product:
Looks a little better than last year’s booth, does it not?
This year we added a new key member/sponsor to the team – Brent from Holliday Flowers, seen above directing the booth decoration as we set up on Tuesday. Brent is a pro and made the booth look amazing. He’s available to make your events look as great as he did ours.
The seating area right inside the front door. Our booth looked better than most nightclubs in Memphis. One team member compared it to Club La Vela in Panama City Beach.
The white triangle in the corner of the seating area was more than just a decoration. It served as a projection screen as well. After dark, our sponsor the Center for Southern Folklore showed concert footage. Above: The Grateful Dead singing “Touch of Grey.” Sing it, Jerry.
This year the team has lockers, so we can safely stash stuff we bring to BBQ Fest. Local artist Shane Paris painted the team logo on the lockers.
Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating, and as a bonus, the Nuh-Uh Sister eating too. Our cook Willie is in the background to the Nuh-Uh Girl’s right. About 6:30 ribs, chicken, and sausage came off the grill, and the Nuh-Uh Girl was all over it, going back for several helpings within the first 30 minutes.
The main dining/socializing area. See that bar in the background? Brent built that bar, just for this event. It looks nicer than most of the bars I sell on Mid-South Alcoholic Supply.
Kelly and Edison boogie down on our upstairs balcony.
View of the booth at night, with the moais in the window lit up.
Our sponsor John Bragg underneath his Circa sign. Attn Silly Goose: Where was your signage?
All right, that’s the basic tour of the booth. You can see all 149 pics I added to the photo album here for a complete look at the Ques Brothers’ 2009 home. I have to believe we’re the frontrunner for the Best Booth award. It was funny to watch people walking past on the sidewalk, and then they’d see our booth and stop and stare.
Today is the first day BBQ Fest is open to the public. Gates open at 11… hmmm… you know what else opens at 11? The Saucer. So it’ll probably be noon before I make it to the booth. Hopefully I’ll get a walk-through video of the booth today. Tonight is the Ms. Piggie Idol competition. Attn team members: If anyone with video can film our entry in Piggie Idol and upload it to YouTube, that will serve as a good backup in case I miss it.
A reminder that Hollywood Disco at Vance and Mulberry is open tonight for post-BBQ Fest partying. They usually aren’t open on Thursdays.
If BBQ Fest isn’t your thing, it’s also rooftop party night Downtown, with parties at the Peabody and the Madison, and post-rooftop parties at the Red Rooster, Flying Saucer, Automatic Slim’s, and all the other hotspots. Lots to do tonight.
Time to shower last night’s BBQ smoke out of my hair and get ready to do it all over again. All three camera batteries are charged… many more pics to come.
(Edited to add: 149 to 123! Haha! I took more photos than Edison! I WIN!!!!)