Operation BBQ Relief in Action

When barbecue is handed to you, it’s usually a time of celebration or a moment of friendship, unless it has been prepared at a cookoff. Then a pitmaster in a competitive spirit may have something to prove and claim, “This barbecue is the best.”

Cooking equipment sets up quickly after a hurricane has damaged an area.

When barbecue is handed to someone after a hurricane or another natural disaster, it’s a different scene. In this case, the barbecue has been prepared by a volunteer with Operation BBQ Relief, a group of champion cooks. The person receiving the barbecue may be homeless or could have been waiting for a hot meal because the power is out and won’t be restored for days. Such was the scene when I saw Operation BBQ Relief in action for the first time in Wilmington, NC, in September 2018. Hurricane Florence had just brought destructive winds, storm surge, torrential rains, and excessive flooding.

Volunteers work many hours each shift during a deployment.

OBR had taken over the huge parking lot of a vacant shopping complex, where trailers, campers, tents, and cookers had been assembled to feed people devastated by the hurricane as well as first responders and other emergency personnel who were providing help to those affected by the hurricane. At its peak, OBR served 30,000 meals a day as it used six massive cookers that can handle 2,000 pounds of meat at a time. Before leaving Wilmington, the nonprofit served 320,000 meals – and thousands of pounds of turkey, pork and beef – in 18 days. Other volunteer groups such as the Salvation Army distributed the food at sites throughout the area.

Volunteers with Salvation Army provide hot meals at a distribution site.

While in Wilmington, its longest deployment, OBR surpassed its 2 millionth meal since 2011, when it was founded to serve residents of Joplin, Missouri, that had been devastated by a tornado. Since then, it has quickly expanded and now mobilizes teams to any area of the United States where a natural disaster has struck. I have just signed up to be an OBR volunteer and hope to contribute to OBR’s mission soon.

Large quantities of barbecue meals are picked up and delivered throughout an area devastated by a natural disaster.

Operation BBQ Relief has created a different image of barbecue than the usual one of someone enjoying a simple meal with meat slowly cooked. OBR’s quick response to those in need gives a new significance to the question, “Want some hot barbecue?”

Hot barbecue cooked by OBR is a welcome meal by many people after a hurricane has struck.

Pigs and Pedals Revisted

Returning to Asheboro, NC, to judge has been a priority since 2014 when I participated in the inaugural Pigs and Pedals cookoff. Because family obligations prevented me from attending in 2015, I was interested this year in seeing how the event had changed since its inception.

In its first year, the cookoff was well planned, organized and executed. For 2016, Pigs and Pedals was again a superior experience. A few changes had been made since the initial cookoff. Judging is now conducted in The Exchange, an attractive event space in the middle of the downtown area and very convenient to the cooking teams. The number of cooking teams also increased to the maximum that the event space can accommodate: 47.

The Smokehouse Mafia, last year's Grand Champion, sets up early.

The surprise for me was an assignment as table captain, which meant that I would not be judging and evaluating barbecue entries. It was my first time as a table captain although I had been certified early last year and had volunteered at other events. The primary duties are to assist the contest representatives of Kansas City Barbeque Society by coordinating activities at a judging table (there were eight this year), serving the judges and collecting their evaluations.

Piggy cupcakes made by a local bakery greet judges as the arrive in The Exchange.

The six judges at the table where I was assigned had a wide range of experience. Three were master judges (more than 30 contests), one was participating for only his third event, and one was recently certified and judging for the first time. Contest organizers attempt to include new judges at events and place them at tables where they can learn from experienced judges.

The Exchange, an event location, is now the venue for all judging activities.

Although I prefer to judge, I willingly had volunteered to assist as a table captain when I registered. I will continue to volunteer in more than only the capacity of judge, although the rewards of being a judge and evaluating barbecue entries are clearly the motivation for judges to participate and spend the time required to drive and attend.

Pigs and Pedals remains one of my favorite barbecue contests and I hope to attend future cookoffs – as a judge or in another capacity.