Well I decided to run and now that the Bullsheet is out it's too late to change my mind. 

 

Bottom line to me is that the KCBS is no longer a small backyard group of friends cooking BBQ.  With revenues in the mid 6 figures and significant profit in 2004 it's time to run it as a business.  We need to follow the rules or in this case the by-laws.  We need to be a non-profit so things have to significantly change.

 

The KCBS needs experienced business people to help make decisions and to lead.  We need to look at the candidates and not jsut look at their contest or cooking experience but also their day to day work experience.  We need leaders that understand how a business runs.

 

If you have questions about how I stand on issues email me at alisonf at ix.netcom.com.

 

 

Sometimes it really bugs me the way folks get upset about the rising gas prices.  Now this temporary bump from Katrina does make a difference in how much it costs to travel.  But this is short term and hopefully the refineries will be back online before the Royal.  We went to a high of $3.39 for regular but are down to $2.99 and I saw $2.89 yesterday.  Diesel has gone up to $2.89 here as well.  So if these prices stay high it will sure cost me more to go to the Royal.  Like maybe $300 or so.  Still my Royal budget is about $2,000 so it's not that big an increase. 

 

Now for folks driving 200 miles each way to a contest and getting only 15 mpg because they are towing a trailer, well that's roughly 27 gallons of gas so a $1.00 increase is only $27.00.  And the contest fee is $200 with $150 meat, plus food and drink.  Sorry but the extra $27 should make it impossible to go.  The one that feel the increase are those with motor homes but then again most can afford the gas at least for the short term.

We’ll I heard that I was nominated for the Board and am waiting for confirmation from the KCBS.  I sure am a member in good standing.  Guess I’ll use this blog to get out some of my concerns and opinions so people can see what I stand for.

 

First off, I don’t believe in massive changes to the KCBS.  It needs to represent the Competition cooks, Judges and Backyard Cooks everywhere.  But most of the focus of the Board is directed towards competition.  And I think I can bring some new ideas to tweak the existing system to allow us to grow over the next 3 years.  I think that we have grown from a small basement based organization to a major player in the BBQ industry.  Just in the past 2 years the Bullsheet has more than doubled in size.  Sure there are more contest results but there are also a lot more ads. 

 

The KCBS contest circuit has exploded with the number of contests and the number of teams at each contest.  BBQ is on multiple TV networks now and it will continue to expand in coming years.  The KCBS has an opportunity to promote our hobby more than ever before.  We are no longer the local BBQ group that started the KCBS.

 

Here are some things that I think need to be looked at as we move forward. 

 

Regional directors.  I’d like to see us split up the country into 3 regions and have 3 directors from each region with the final 3 being at large.  That way 1 director from each region and 1 at large director would be up for election each year.  And obviously the at large director would be the individual that finished second in a region but had the most votes.  I’ll talk more about this in later posts.

 

Modifications to judges instructions at a contest.  Those that read the BBQ Forum know that judging is a hot topic.  Well over all the CBJ’s out there today do a great job.  That’s not to say that one or more don’t make mistakes but as a rule of thumb they do a great job.  But we have a lot of contests with 25%, 50% and even 80% of judges that are not CBJ’s.  So we need to figure out some way to spend time with these judges in the judges meeting before the judging starts.  Now for this to be successful we need to get some binders with photos of excellent presentations.  And by that I mean boxes that got those 99999 scores.  I know photos don’t really do the box justice but it’s a starting point.  There’s lots more here that I will discuss over the next few months.

 

Enforcing the sanitation rules for cooks.  I think that at cooks meeting’s this needs to be stressed.  And we need the volunteers and Reps that are going around during the cooking period to look for violations and warn people.  We the cooks need to try to police ourselves. 

 

Advancing the goals of the KCBS.  This is from the Bylaws of the KCBS “The Corporation’s purposes shall include, but not be limited to, preserving, celebrating, promoting, and educating the public about barbecue as a distinctively American cuisine that is part of the American culture.”  Now between the Bullsheet, the TV Specials we’re seeing, the newspaper articles, etc I think that the KCBS is doing a pretty good job so far.  And of course the crowds at contests show our success. 

 

But there’s another side to the KCBS and that’s the charitable side.  As a non profit organization we are charged with donating a certain amount of our revenue back to charity.  I see it happening now with Kookers Kare bit that’s just in KC.  I’d like to see the KCBS take a more active role in OPBBQFTT.  I think that there should be funds available to help out with these cooking efforts to say thanks to the men and women serving our country.

 

I’d like to see  the KCBS get more involved in programs like Mike at Haweyes has started with the Senior Q idea.  I’d like to see it be a part of the KCBS.  I’d like to see some funds made available for people that want to promote a program like this.  And I know that in return for the good deed we do, the KCBS would get some great press.  By putting info up on the website a lot of people can hear about these efforts and volunteer to help out.

 

Improve the KCBS website.  It’s still just a part time effort on a limited budget.  The KCBS needs to get more out of the website.  A lot more content can be added.  The KCBS sure has the revenue stream to afford a more robust website.

Can anybody say hot.  100F in the shade.  No breeze and it was humid.  But a good contest.  Fine location right on the river.  Looked like good crowds for the Blues.  We went back to basics on cooking.  Not wrapping ribs, just cooking them.  And it worked almost with an 8^th in ribs out of 58 teams.  Chicken could have been better and Pork can use improvement.  Brisket was pretty good.  We used the SAM’s flat again over the butchers prime packers.  Maybe it’s time to start just using flats.  Carol did the meat shopping and picked out the flat and it was a good one.

 

Had lots of fun visiting even with the Eggers next to us.  First time cooking and they had a lot of fun.  Also finished 18^th overall so a good show.  Daa Mayooor from the Egger Froum was the produ papa of one of the team.  That may be why they were cooking on the Eggs.  Was fun giving advice and chatting during the night.

 

Rumor has it some folks were in the cement pond (remember Beverly Hillbillies) during the night and the local constabulary had to warn them about trespassing.  Now I was asleep so I can’t confirm it but I doubt they brought bathing suits with them.  So I’m assuming they were in their unmentionables. I do believe that alcohol may have been a factor especially Jeff Ferguson’s moonshine cherries.

 

I’d like to put this back on our calendar next year but I hear Viroqua WI is a lot cooler this time of year so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Well the home contest is over.  We got seriously spanked again.  I can’t cook for local tastes anymore or at least that what my scores tell me.  Thought we had great food but scores stunk.  At least it wasn’t just us.

 

Was great having Kyle and Steph here again.  We did a Mexican theme for Thursday night and it went over pretty well.  As usual Carol did a great job.

 

The new contest site – what a pain getting in and out.  No power but heck it’s been like that for 3 years now so what should I expect.  They ran out of water Friday night.  Not good.  Ice was a long way away but thankfully we had the gold cart.  Much more spread out and harder to visit people this year.

 

But 60 teams and that’s just great.  Congrats to Steph and Kyle for their convincing victory.  And they had huge crowds so as much as I gripe about the site it was a success and it looks like they will probably sponsor it again next year.

 

We had fun breaking in Hayden Powers as part of the team.  Gary and I kept him pretty busy.  I sure was glad he was there.  A hard worker and from what I observed I think he’s a pretty fair BBQ cook.

Hey where did the corn field go?  They planted beans on the big field this year and boy does it sure change the place.  But the contest is still one of the best in the country.  As usual very well run.  And of course it was very sunny and hot. 

 

Got to see lots  of friends that weren’t at Dundee.  We cooked pretty good but something is still missing.  Not exactly sure what I’ve been doing wrong but I am going to need some practice.  It was nice to Have Tom and Sheryl along to help us out.  Having a second woman on the team is great for many reasons.  I know Carol really likes her being there.  And she’s great helping with the boxes.  I can get my clumsy hands out of the way and let her and Carol take over.  Now that’s real nice.

 

Michigan in 2 weeks is going to be tough when Tom and Dave cook against us.  But good news is there’s a new team member named Hayden Powers from over Holland way that will be at Michigan.

Overall this was a very good first year contest.   Like all first year contests there were some problems but nothing that got me upset.  Now low prize money is not so good.  I think that they need to publish the prize money and stick to it.  They could say x$ for 25 teams y for 50 teams, etc. 

 

The location was great with lots of room for everybody.  They made sure that they had power for everybody and lots of it.  Goodie bag was great.  Water could have been more convenient but overall not bad. 

 

Would have preferred more CBJ's but maybe next year we can encourage them to have a class before the contest.

 

Was great seeing everybody again.  Sure missed competition.

I got this started then stopped.  I have decided to try to post at least once a week and right now I have some catching up to do.

What a day it’s been.  It’s bad enough being stuck in the house for 7+ weeks now.  Then I’m reading and posting to the Forum and have folks telling me I don’t know what I’m talking about.  Have people that never judged a contest telling us what should be done.  Having others say quick complaining the Board knows what it’s doing.  Or how about learn to cook.  You’re getting 6’s because that’s what your entry deserves.  And these jerks don’t even understand the problem is not getting 6’s, it’s getting 4 and 5 and 8 and 9 for the same entry because somebody says too spicy and some say too sweet.  That’s just bull.

 

But there were some good posts saying email the KCBS and of course that’s what I’ve been saying for awhile.  And then again it’s nice to see that some people are upset about their totally unacceptable inconsistent scores.  For everybody that say it will get better, wake up.  It won’t. 

 

And then out of nowhere, we get Jim Minions post that the elections were not in compliance with the by-laws.  So John Ross did not get elected and Rod Grey did.  Well that’s fantastic.

 

BUT does it bother anybody that the KCBS held an election that was in direct violation of the by-laws.  How could it happen???  Didn’t the Board know the by-laws?  I just don’t understand it.  I hope the by-laws get posted to the website real soon.  I requested a copy of them 2 weeks ago but so far I have not received them.  And I probably would not if this fiasco hadn’t happened.  Actually I would have received them even if I needed to ask a lawyer to write a letter for me.  They are public knowledge just as the KCBS financial statements are. 

 

Now I’m reenergized and ready to rock and roll again.  I am even thinking of forming a committee to investigate the possibility of running for the Board new year.  After all we’ll have 4 vacancies and  only 1 possible incumbent.  Maybe the upper Midwest needs representation.

Well I saw the doctor yesterday.  We were 20 minutes early and I was taken right in to an exam room.  And I was out in 30 minutes.  Must be a new record.

 

Anway the knee is healing just fine.  I start therapy on Monday.  Can bend it a little now.  Looks like 6-8 weeks of therapy before I'm doing neat things like driving and getting around airports.

 

And he signed the paperwork for a handicapped parking tag.  Now I probably wo';t use it much when the weather is good.  After all I do need the exercise.  But when it's icy our it will be nice to have.  And as a side benefit it works at BBQ contests as well.