A week ago we had the privilege of being a part of something very special. We are always excited for different events that we’ve never done before especially with the new excitement of the truck and the many smiling faces we interact with. Of course the sweet smell of bbq on the grill, laughter of kids playing all around, and the warm summer day definitely helped in making the Wild Blue BBQ one to remember. Not to forget the creative guy who decided to transform his bus into a mean “education” bbq grilling machine who continued to let us sample his many slaved over pieces of meat ranging from ribs to pulled pork.
Now that’s not why this event will forever be engrained in my memory. When I first made the contact a few days before we were to make it to the event location I could tell something was going to be different about this particular visit. The tone in the man’s voice and the excitement that we were on our way lit a fire inside me without even meeting him yet. Sometimes getting the “small spud” into the locations and where the event coordinators are is a feat in itself. The fact that they went out of their way to make everything work out perfectly from getting us a pilot car to travel on country roads to allowing us our very own entrance made it that much more spectacular! When I got word that this bbq wasn’t your normal back yard smoking shindig, and that they were also donating most of the proceeds to scholarships for kids we couldn’t pass this opportunity up.
We decided to surprise them with a donation of our own. So we got to work and brought out a signing board for them to begin to colorfully decorate with their support. At this point on the tour we’ve now had many other signing boards out at other events, but like I said this event was different. The word across this little town spread like wildfire and they began to flock to support this scholarship like no one’s business. Brothers, grandparents, mothers, aunts and uncles, cousins, and the neighbor down the street hear the word and made their way to make their mark on the board. We were only at the event for a few hours but the amount of support in this community surely showed its light!
A presentation was made for the 15 winners that were receiving scholarship money to further their education. What better cause than to support our future kids going on to further their knowledge. I made the announcement near the beginning of the presentation that we appreciated the opportunity to come out more than they knew, but sadly they only had four hundred and ninety nine signatures and they needed five hundred. Without a delay a woman in the front who hadn’t had the chance to sign the board jumped up and signed her name with a smile.
Burlington Kansas and their Wild Blue BBQ event will always be remember at the top of my list as a memorable masterpiece!
