Team Party for Memphis In May

Team,

Sorry for the short notice....

We are glad to announce that we will be allowed to have a team party on Wednesday night at Memphis In May. The general public is not allowed in until Thursday, so this is a time for us to relax as a team under kid friendly conditions. Thursday night and Friday night will be our partying nights and a time to let loose and get a little wild, but Wed will remain kid friendly. Drinking will be allowed; however we ask that you keep it at a reasonable level due to the atmosphere (we can show our asses the next two nights).

There is one small hitch. We only have access to 30-passes, so we are asking that you order passes for yourself (if you do not have a 24 hour pass), your spouse or kids, etc. If your son or daughter wants to bring a friend, please be honest about that so we can insure that the family members children have access to the tickets first, then if there are any available after that we will ration them out. Team member families need first access.

We need a head count on what you think you will be ordering for the Wed night family event. We have to order and pay for them this Sunday at the cooks meeting. I have a "tentative" 24-hour wrist band list below. If you receive a 24-hour wrist band you do not need to purchase a ticket for Wed nights event. This list will change I am sure, as folks will state that they can not make it Wed night or that they will unlikely be able to spend the night in the park. Priority for the (17) - 24hour wrist bands are as follows: Cooks, team members that will be spending the night, full year team members, etc. Please do not be offended if your name is not on the list -- ........(see email).........

I need a head count for Wed night family night. I need a volunteer list for people willing to spend the night Wed, Thurs, Friday & Saturday. It is best to have two people each night.
24 Hour Wrist Band List:

• Ed
• Todd
• Palmer
• Mike Reed
• Brian
• Johnny
• Ron
• T-Bone
• Jeff
• Donna
• Cindy
• Tim
• Chuck
• Blake
• Jeff
• Zena
• Leaving one open after I get the volunteer list and speak with some folks.
• Team Members that do not recieve a 24-hour wrist band will recieve a 3-day pass, paid for by the team.

If you can not use your wrist band on Wed night, please allow it to be used by someone who can, we will return it for you to use on Thursday and/or Friday night. Please get these in to us as quickly as possible. We will need reimbursement as soon as you can as well; as we have to pay this Sunday.

Southaven BBQ Entertainment

It looks like the SOuthaven SPringFestival will have a pretty good line up for the stage.


Friday the 25th 2008

• Aquanet (6:30 p.m.)
• Gabby Johnson (8:00 p.m.)
• and Collective Soul (9:30 p.m.)

*************************************************

Saturday the 26th 2008

• Billy Grantham (6:30 p.m.)
• Eric Church (8:00 p.m.)
• Chris Cagle (9:30 p.m.)
  

Membership Dues

If you are on the monthly payment plan, you should have received an invoice (email) of what you owe, especially if you by chance are behind in your monthly payments. It will benefit the team a great deal if you can get caught up to at least where your dues should be at for the month of April. It will help us out a great deal as we are in need of funds to complete our Memphis In May competition requirements.

Thank you as always for your support, the team appreciates it very much.

Southaven Spring Festival BBQ contest

Optimus Swine team members, we are proud to announce that we will be competing in the Southaven Spring Festival 2008 BBQ contest this April 24th - 26th. We are in need of donations to make this happen. I am not setting a standard amount per say, because this is a voluntary donation and different folks will be able to do different things. I will, however; keep track of expenditures and make it known at the contest of the amount we are shy or over. Anything that is received over the amount we actually use will be used for other team functions.

Load in will be Thursday afternoon the 24th. Anyone who believes they may be able to help please shoot Ed and email at . We will be doing both shoulders and ribs, so time will be tight and things a little hectic maybe (but we will still have fun). Other interesting differences will be that only four other assistant cooks will be allowed in the judging area at the time of judging. Anyone interested, please speak up so I can get a decent idea of who will be there and who won't be able to make it. Everyone in the tent must wear an apron and a hat.

If you are interested in doing any ancillary contests, I will need your entry fee in advance. They are offering Beef, Poultry, Seafood, Sauce, Beans, and Desert. We have had an interest in Seafood and Desert so far, but nothing is etched in stone yet, so speak up if you want to try your hand at something.

Southaven Springfest BBQ Contest

So far we have spent the following (or obligated to)

$100 - Rib entry
$100 - Shoulder entry
$75 - Porta John
$15 - Electrical
$120 - Fruit smoking logs (paid for)
$90 - Hickory wood (paid for)
$200 - Shoulder meat (estimate)
$100 - Ribs (estimate)
$50 - Sauce (estimate)
$40 - Spices (estimate)

If we hit the Grand Slam, The Tri-fecta, The granddaddy sweep - we could win $3,200 in prize money and an inventation to Jack Daniel's BBQ Contest. Obviously, that is unrealistic, however we can shoot for the stars!

As I receive more information and specifics, I will pass them on to the team via the Blog.
Go Optimus Swine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BBQ Season 2008

It is time to break out the BBQ rig, equipment, thaw all the spices and start the inventorying of equipment and goods for the new BBQ season. It is here, and we need to get ready to kick some asteroids. Team members, please start getting in the habit of checking the Blog on a regular basis for information on events and general news. I will keep it up to date now that the season is upon us.

Our first event will be the Southaven Spring Festival 2008 this April 24th - 26th.

Successful Super Bowl Party!

Successful in more ways than one. First and fore most the Giants beat the Patriots, AMEN brother. Secondly, as usual; Jeff and Chery were perfect hosts for the party - I think it is safe to say that everyone who was able to make it had a good time and plenty of food. As you know we did a practice run for Memphis In May BBQ contest with a full case of Ribs. That went really well with a lot of compliments on our ribs. I learned a few things as far as the process goes and about the type of ribs that we will be using.

A huge thank you to those of you who pitched in and donated for the cost of the practice.
Jeff & Cheryl, Tim Melton, Bill Vaughn, Ed & Kat have pitched in so far (it's not too late). That means the team only lost about $100.00 on the practice.Our bank roll is all but depleted with the pre-paying of the Memphis In May contest. The only practical way of practicing will be to ask for donations and or have a surcharge from team members to compensate for the cost of practicing. It is safe to say that it costs us $200 to do a full case of ribs competition style. $100 in ribs, $36 in wood and the rest for ingredients, etc.

Another successful team event!

Mississippi State Wins!

Those of us that were able to make it out to the Liberty Bowl had a great time, at least everyone I have spoken with had a blast. It was a great turn out and great food provided mostly by Johny. We had folks come in from far and wide, visitors from Florida, Alabama and the like. Major financial contributors were Mike Reed and his friends, Brian's boss (sorry sir, I forgot your name) and B.J. in from Florida.

Liberty Bowl Tail Gating Party

We will have the rig down a the Liberty bowl for a tail gating party. If you are a Mississippi State fan or just want to come out and tail gate like a bunch of us are doing, feel free. We will have BBQ, Hamburgers, hot dogs and the like. BYOB, because beer will be on a shortage I am sure. Please pitch in to help out with the food as the team can not afford to expend any money on this. We're not looking to make money, just to reimburse those that are coming out of their pocket to make it happen.

We will be setting up as close to the big oak tree at Tobby field as possible. Feel free to call Brian, Johnny or Ed that day to find out where we are at.. Go State ! See you there!

Happy Birthday Debbie Reed !

Today was Debbie's birthday, and despite popular belief that she planned it for the same day as team clean up to avoid helping out is incorrect. She has had the same birthday for at least the last 35 years. When you see Debbie be sure to wish her a happy 36th B-Day !

Team Clean Up Went Well.

Thank you to Todd, Brian, Tim, Johnny, and Cindy for being able to help out with the team clean up today. It didn't take long with all of us helping, but it was definitely things that just had to get done. One "treasure" was the aromatic green growth in the sink and some of the pans because we did not clean them out from the last event. We need to be conscious of that and not make that mistake again if at all possible.

Johnny, Tim and Brian each get an extra BBQ sandwich at the next event for tackling the the nasty green growth. It is impossible for everyone to make it to every team event, meeting or cleaning, but it is important that we all make an attempt to do our fair share when feasible. Again the team thanks all who made it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Super Bowl Party!

Jeff and Cheryl have been gracious enough to invite the team to their annual Super Bowl Party at their house in Germantown. BYOB and call Cheryl for ideas on a snack or appetizer or something. We will be having a Memphis In May practice as if it were a contest, with the team members acting as blind judges. I know from experience that it will be a great time. Anyone wishing to be a part of the cooking team should be there for the entire rib cooking portion if at all feasible, to learn and to participate.

We are asking each team member/s to donate $25 toward the practice run for Memphis In May. Doing these practice runs without taking in any fundage is draining our small reserves quickly. If you can help out we greatly appreciate it, if the holidays have you a little tight, we understand that too.

Unofficial Team Mascot

Optimus Swine is here! Our un-official team mascot "Optimus Swine" was donated by Ms. Paula Barlovic. We're excited to have him on board our team; he should come in handy should we get in to any brawls at a BBQ contest. Anyone have ideas for logos? emblems? Slogans? Mascots? If so, please place your recommendations here by clicking the "comments" link below.

Recipe Request !!!

I need every one on the team (or anyone else) to help me out. I am looking for some wonderful recipes ideas; whether it is of BBQ style, grilling or some wonderful BBQ baked beans, or a good dip for a party, etc. You can respond to this article by clicking on the "comments" link or shoot me an email.

If they're geared toward BBQ'ing or grilling that is cool, if not no worries.

New Member!! Zena Baily !

Ms. Zena, "I'm not a princess warrior" , Baily - has joined the team! Be careful, though; Carol (with one "R", Melton) said Zena turned her from her sweet southern belle ways. 35-years old and still keeping up with the 21 - year old studs, she's a force to be reckoned with. Optimus Swine is excited to have her on the team and we look forward to putting her to work as soon as possible. When you run in to Ms. Baily be sure to give her a warm welcome to the team!

Clean Up Team Meeting Please!

We need to have a get together to help clean up from the Battle of the Bones at the University of Memphis Football game. We have dozens of pans that need cleaning, the sink still has "yuk" in it, the hot-water heater needs to be temporarily winterized, the pans need to be put away in their storage and we need another inventory done to see what we need to buy for the practices.

It won't take long, but we will need help. Mother Nature is saying that this Sunday 12/16 is our best shot. Let's make it 11:30 for the get together, (BYOB) if this is a major conflict with folks, please let me know. The Steelers play at noon, so if I can miss that - then other members can make a small sacrifice as well. I am sure we can count on good support ;)

If you can, please RSVP by Friday so we can plan on how much pizza to have available for the team members who show up, heck we may even throw in a batch of Bloody Mary if we get enough support. See you Sunday at 11:30 !