I made my first trip to Bass Pro yesterday! It was the annual cooks’ meeting that Memphis in May holds every year. It’s not really a cooks’ meeting at all, explained my BBQ team president and treasurer. “You stand in line in a number of different booths and pay for everything. You get your 24-hour and park hours wristbands, and also Wednesday Friends and Family Night tickets. You also pay for electrical and porta-potties and all the other things you need for your booth.”
“It’s at Bass Pro this year,” they told me. “It’s a much bigger space than previous cooks’ meetings, and for the first time ever they’re going to have a cash bar. You want to go?” Given that it’s my first year on the team’s board of directors, I decided it was an experience I should have, and rode over with them.
The cooks’ meeting was on the upper level overlooking the main store. This level also is where the hotel, Big Cypress Lodge, is located.
Team vice-president Erik, pitmaster Frank, and president Clay made sure that all of the team’s paperwork was in order.
The view from Big Cypress Lodge’s hotel bar, overlooking the store. This was a really neat place and I will have to visit again soon.
Although I thought I would be completely useless at a “cooks’ meeting,” I actually served a purpose there. The team ordered 10 Friends & Family Night tickets, which along with the 17 24-hour wristbands would give us 27 admissions on Wednesday. I pulled up the Moody Ques website on my phone, and did a quick count of the member list on the sidebar. “That’s not enough,” I told the team treasurer. “We have 33 members at this point.”
“Should I get 10 more, so we have 37?” she asked.
“Still not enough,” I replied. “The member list doesn’t include sponsors, who will want to come, and we have a few people we know are joining but who haven’t paid yet. And we still want to add a few more team members.” (By the way, if you’re interested in joining the team or sponsoring us, email moodyques@gmail.com.) So we ordered 20 additional tickets, giving us 47 admissions. The thing about Friends & Family Night tickets is that they are a scarce commodity. If we have more tickets than we can use, there will certainly be other BBQ teams willing to buy them.
We did a little shopping after the meeting. To my younger, male readers interested in meeting older, mature, experienced women, Bass Pro has the attire you desire:
We saw our friends on Porkosaurus and Squeal Street BBQ getting their registration done too. Congratulations to Squeal Street, by the way, on what I hear was a very successful event Saturday. Good to see them getting some practice in, as they prepare to compete in the Shoulder division for the first time. With them right down the sidewalk from the Moody Ques, I look forward to spending a considerable amount of time hanging out in their booth in 2016.
There was no actual “meeting” part of the cooks’ meeting. The people at Memphis in May know we are veterans of BBQ Fest (hard to believe this will be my 10th year on a team) and know the ropes.
On to the news… if you have heard of career coaches and have wondered, “Why would people hire a career coach? What do they do that can help you?”, my friend Angela who coaches has an excellent answer here.
Riverside Drive is down to one lane each direction. Not sure if this is early prep for Memphis in May, or cleanup for the mudslide that happened back in March.
Following my visit to Loflin Yard last week, I had a few friends ask if the outdoors area is pet-friendly. Indeed it is. They have a section covered with mulch, specifically to accommodate customers who want to bring their dogs. There are ordering windows for food and for beer, so you can do everything without ever actually going inside.
From The Student Section: Why the Memphis Tigers job is a great one that head coaches should covet
We have several Yankee members of the BBQ team who travel to Memphis every year, and they are considered the hardest workers on the team (now that I am no longer in my “Mr. Load-in” role). They are a big fan of a BBQ sauce that they bring with them called Southern Yankee Sauce. Check it out here.
The Salty Dogs running club’s 6th anniversary run is tonight at Bardog. The rain will hopefully be gone by then, leaving a nice evening for the runners. Free to participate.
Historian Jimmy Ogle will lead a free tour of Memphis’ historic Cotton Row tomorrow at 11:45 AM. Meet at the Cotton Museum at Front and Union.
Here’s an example of what the front page might look like reporting on the activities of President Trump. While the front page example was made up, you just can’t make stuff like this up: Trump’s daughter Ivanka, leading the get-out-the-vote effort for her dad in New York, forgot to register to vote.
Memphis Animal Services is hosting a advisory board meeting Wednesday at the main library that is open for the public to attend. Come to the meeting if you thought the way Animal Services operated under former mayor Wharton was unacceptable. Make your voice heard and demand transparency.
Probable, but not definite plans for the evening will be to lead off at Bardog for Melissa Monday. I won’t be running with the Salty Dogs but will congratulate them on six great years. Second stop after that TBD. Everyone be safe driving home. It looks like it’s going to be a wet one.