Posted by Ed Dauginas on September 23, 2018, 10:22 am
BBQ Heroes This is a story about ordinary everyday heroes. In my experience everyone who was considered a hero was someone who did something out of the ordinary not someone who didn't do something. The Golden Leaf festival at Mullins SC was originally scheduled for September 14 ,15 but was postponed until September 21,22 because of Hurricane Florence. Initially 22 Cook Teams signed up as well as 42 judges. As it turned out 19 Cook Teams participated and only 19 of the 42 judges that signed up finally attended. Of the folks who did not attend I appreciate their prompt notification that due to personal circumstances or concerns for safe travel could not attend. Their notifying us in advance allowed us to take additional measures to fully staff the event. Now let's review the events after we learned about the reduced judge attendance. Judy and Tony Lindsay who marshaled the Mauldin event sent us judges who were willing to switch to Mullins. Dawn Verbarg sent out a mass e-mail calling for more judges. Jim Wellman answered this call and judged at Mullins. Jim Bain (The Event Organizer) volunteered to judge and also recruited other SCBA judges living nearby to also attend. Mike Sexton and Dawn Verbarg interviewed Cook Teams about road conditions they encountered enroute and relayed this to several judges who were concerned about safe travel. Now let's talk about the judges who decided to try to get to the event. First they decided to ignore the over sensationalized reporting of road closures reported by the "fake" news channels. Enroute they encountered several detours and traffic jams and in each case they decided to press on. The sum total of all their small actions and decisions resulting in their judging at the Mullins event. While these may seem to be small things it resulted in the SCBA having enough people to properly judge this event. The determination of these judges and the Cook Teams made this event a success especially since the City of Mullins canceled all the other festival activities and focused only on the BBQ competition. They truly are BBQ heroes! Early on Jim Bain arranged for unique rectangular shaped participation buttons for judges who attended the event. We agreed to distribute these to all judges who participated and the rest were destroyed. These are easily recognizable because of their shape and signify their small but heroic actions by judging at Mullins despite Hurricane Florence' impact on travel conditions. So to all Cook Teams and judges who attended the Mullins event when you are asked by your grand children and great grand children: "What did you do during Hurricane Florence"? You can reply " I proudly cooked or judged at the Mullins Golden Leaf festival".
Re: BBQ Heroes
Posted by Steve Meadows on September 23, 2018, 1:49 pm, in reply to "BBQ Heroes"
A special thanks to you Ed for traveling long distance from North Carolina through the effected area to come Marshal this event. I too was very proud of the Mayor for all he and Jim the event organizer did for the community, surrounding area, and first responders. I am proud that I could be a very small part of it.
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BBQ Heroes This is a story about ordinary everyday heroes. In my experience everyone who was considered a hero was someone who did something out of the ordinary not someone who didn't do something. The Golden Leaf festival at Mullins SC was originally scheduled for September 14 ,15 but was postponed until September 21,22 because of Hurricane Florence. Initially 22 Cook Teams signed up as well as 42 judges. As it turned out 19 Cook Teams participated and only 19 of the 42 judges that signed up finally attended. Of the folks who did not attend I appreciate their prompt notification that due to personal circumstances or concerns for safe travel could not attend. Their notifying us in advance allowed us to take additional measures to fully staff the event. Now let's review the events after we learned about the reduced judge attendance. Judy and Tony Lindsay who marshaled the Mauldin event sent us judges who were willing to switch to Mullins. Dawn Verbarg sent out a mass e-mail calling for more judges. Jim Wellman answered this call and judged at Mullins. Jim Bain (The Event Organizer) volunteered to judge and also recruited other SCBA judges living nearby to also attend. Mike Sexton and Dawn Verbarg interviewed Cook Teams about road conditions they encountered enroute and relayed this to several judges who were concerned about safe travel. Now let's talk about the judges who decided to try to get to the event. First they decided to ignore the over sensationalized reporting of road closures reported by the "fake" news channels. Enroute they encountered several detours and traffic jams and in each case they decided to press on. The sum total of all their small actions and decisions resulting in their judging at the Mullins event. While these may seem to be small things it resulted in the SCBA having enough people to properly judge this event. The determination of these judges and the Cook Teams made this event a success especially since the City of Mullins canceled all the other festival activities and focused only on the BBQ competition. They truly are BBQ heroes! Early on Jim Bain arranged for unique rectangular shaped participation buttons for judges who attended the event. We agreed to distribute these to all judges who participated and the rest were destroyed. These are easily recognizable because of their shape and signify their small but heroic actions by judging at Mullins despite Hurricane Florence' impact on travel conditions. So to all Cook Teams and judges who attended the Mullins event when you are asked by your grand children and great grand children: "What did you do during Hurricane Florence"? You can reply " I proudly cooked or judged at the Mullins Golden Leaf festival".
Re: BBQ Heroes
Posted by DawnV on September 23, 2018, 2:57 pm, in reply to "Re: BBQ Heroes" Edited by board administrator September 23, 2018, 2:58 pm
Thank you Ed for your kind words. You and your team did an extraordinary job.
I would also like everyone to know how wonderful the people of Mullins were because they are truly the superheros.
On Friday the Mayor decided to waive the wristband sales on both Friday and Saturday, inviting all the townspeople to come out and enjoy the live entertainment and good food prepared by the teams. On Saturday, the local high school provided servers to the teams and all the leftover BBQ was quickly scooped up and delivered to the first responder's and shelters. For many that was the first hot meal they had had in a week.
Not only does this event have the largest prize purse of $12,500 they also matched the money raised for the MBA Rib Competition. Jim Bain and Mayor Bo, as he likes to be called, could not have been more accommodating and gracious and due to their hard work and dedication the Golden Leaf BBQ Festival was a huge success in spite of Hurricane Florence
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A special thanks to you Ed for traveling long distance from North Carolina through the effected area to come Marshal this event. I too was very proud of the Mayor for all he and Jim the event organizer did for the community, surrounding area, and first responders. I am proud that I could be a very small part of it.
Previous Message
BBQ Heroes This is a story about ordinary everyday heroes. In my experience everyone who was considered a hero was someone who did something out of the ordinary not someone who didn't do something. The Golden Leaf festival at Mullins SC was originally scheduled for September 14 ,15 but was postponed until September 21,22 because of Hurricane Florence. Initially 22 Cook Teams signed up as well as 42 judges. As it turned out 19 Cook Teams participated and only 19 of the 42 judges that signed up finally attended. Of the folks who did not attend I appreciate their prompt notification that due to personal circumstances or concerns for safe travel could not attend. Their notifying us in advance allowed us to take additional measures to fully staff the event. Now let's review the events after we learned about the reduced judge attendance. Judy and Tony Lindsay who marshaled the Mauldin event sent us judges who were willing to switch to Mullins. Dawn Verbarg sent out a mass e-mail calling for more judges. Jim Wellman answered this call and judged at Mullins. Jim Bain (The Event Organizer) volunteered to judge and also recruited other SCBA judges living nearby to also attend. Mike Sexton and Dawn Verbarg interviewed Cook Teams about road conditions they encountered enroute and relayed this to several judges who were concerned about safe travel. Now let's talk about the judges who decided to try to get to the event. First they decided to ignore the over sensationalized reporting of road closures reported by the "fake" news channels. Enroute they encountered several detours and traffic jams and in each case they decided to press on. The sum total of all their small actions and decisions resulting in their judging at the Mullins event. While these may seem to be small things it resulted in the SCBA having enough people to properly judge this event. The determination of these judges and the Cook Teams made this event a success especially since the City of Mullins canceled all the other festival activities and focused only on the BBQ competition. They truly are BBQ heroes! Early on Jim Bain arranged for unique rectangular shaped participation buttons for judges who attended the event. We agreed to distribute these to all judges who participated and the rest were destroyed. These are easily recognizable because of their shape and signify their small but heroic actions by judging at Mullins despite Hurricane Florence' impact on travel conditions. So to all Cook Teams and judges who attended the Mullins event when you are asked by your grand children and great grand children: "What did you do during Hurricane Florence"? You can reply " I proudly cooked or judged at the Mullins Golden Leaf festival".
Re: BBQ Heroes
Posted by Judi and Tony Lindsey on September 23, 2018, 4:56 pm, in reply to "Re: BBQ Heroes"
The Hurricane affect so much more than just the coastline counties. In fact the destruction will be felt for many months to come. We were in the upstate and encountered flooding in our home. I cannot imagine what the low country experienced. I wish we could have combined our two competitions into one and shared your pain. I did what I could to encourage judges that were signed up at both to participate in the Mullins event. I believe we sent at least 6 judges your way. I tried to think how I would feel I were in the same situation as you as Marshal. It was our pleasure to "encourage" judges to make the Mullins decision. Glad that it helped. While we were short judges as well in Mauldin, it was not as bleak as what it could have been. SCBA is a bond and our team works beyond the event we are helping to organize. We lift our brothers up and support their need as well. The Mullins event has a great reputation and there is a reason it is respected so much among both cook teams and judges as well. Despite all odds, you had a wonderful event. See you all on the Barbeque Trail. Judi and Tony Lindsey
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