Posted by: Tony McDowell,
To all
I want to take this opportunity to THANK each and every one of you for
your generous support to make Winterfest 07 a huge success. You all made
an effort to show up and support our service personnel and their
families during this Christmas time of year. We were asked to serve 2000
service members and their families and if we just take the plate count
of those plates used we served over 4500 plates of food. For some of you
it was your first time and for others it was your return trip. Everyone
pulled together and made this a success. All I heard all day long and
again on Sunday from service members and families was how well all went
and the great FOOD and time everyone had.
Special thanks to Dan Cannon and Bill Wight who donated the rice. This
was no small task when you see all the prep that was done not only
on-site but before Dan & Bill ever got to the base. I know Gen Spiese
and his wife as well as Kathy Catlin (MCCS Director) and her husband
Brian enjoyed it they were back a few time asking for more.
John & Sharen and crew preparing all the beans and helping out on the
serving line, words can’t express the gratitude of those we served.
Benny & Shari seemed to be everywhere helping. I didn’t get a chance to
say but a few words to Glen & Kyle they stayed busy all weekend. Shelly,
David and Jim I don’t think they new what they were getting into however
when called upon they were right there. Dave Danesmand seemed to be
everywhere I saw him cooking rice then I turned around and he was on the
serving line helping out.
Brent, Walt and his Mother Mary, Thom, Mike, Joe, Linda, Dale, Tammy and
Cecilia were in the background making all run smoothly. How about that
dinner Friday night thanks Joe for doing the prep and cooking and Linda
what a great desert.
Joe Sackett and our young Marines, Russell Meats, Devine Chapple,
Deondre Johnson and Johnny Touch what a great group of young gentleman
they were everywhere and asked to help out all they said was OK no
matter what the task.
Kelly Coe, John Murdock and Bob Crossier and all there crews from the
base were also very supportive everything we asked for we were given.
Again Thanks, may God Bless all of you and your families and may you
have the Merriest of Christmas’s and the Happiest of New Years. I hope
all your wishes come true
Tony McDowell
CBBQA 29 Palms Rep
Posted by: Kelley M. Coe,
Good morning all!
I also want to send out my personal thanks to all of you for the hard
work you did this weekend.
I appreciate each and every one of you and your efforts to continue
supporting our base events. These events are no easy task for you guys,
and they continue to grow each and every year. Again thanks.
I understand that May 10 is going to be a difficult date for support of
the Salute due to a huge competition that is held every year. This date
was driven this year by our headliner Montgomery Gentry. I do wish
everyone that is going to the competition good luck!
Kelley
Kelley M. Coe
Special Events Program Manager
MCCS, 29 Palms
760-830-5086 Phone
760-830-7239 Fax
MCCS is your Quality of Life Link to Mission Readiness.
www.mccs29palms.com
Posted by: Thom Emery,
Great crowd there yesterday
Just a few notes here:
- We thank Tony for his leadership on this project
- The Dan Cannon Crew made the Worlds Best Dirty Rice
- John and Sharon's Papas Smoke House Team was unstoppable in doing what
needs to be done
- Palm Springs BBQ Walt brought out the No Cal transplanted FEC 500
- New Members The Q Man " Did it the Ol Fashioned Southern Way"
- Glen and Kyle are Dish Washing Machines
- When Pigs Fly Sure did
- Joe Miles made BBQ Rub out of thin air
- Benny and Shari and Linda were once again there to be counted on
- Cecilia one of our new CBJs dove right in
- Some Guy named Brent Walton was nothing but trouble
- Dan Cannon will be doing his usual excellent complete write up
Thom Emery
Posted by: John and Sharen
Scott,
Tony...
Once again, CBBQA played a big part in supporting our troops. We did it
bigger and better than last year's Winterfest! Hat's off to all of you
and all the combined effort of everyone!
John and I so thoroughly enjoy being with all of you at these events!!
Kudos to the dirty rice team....The Friday night Dinner team, the
Prepping team, the Breakfast team, the Smokin' team, the Pork-pulling
team, the Tray-running team, the Serving team, the Doing-the-dishes team
and the "where to you need us?" team......that would be Dan and Bill,
Brent, Dale & Tammy, Glen & Kyle, Thom, Joe, Linda and Tony......Dave,
Walt and mom Mary, Mike, Benny and Shari, David & Shelley, Jimmy, Tracey
and Mike.... This event is nothing short of a GREAT TEAM effort by
everyone and we are so proud to have been a part of it.
.... We want to give a big thank you to our daughter Tracey and her
husband Mike...you amaze us everyday..you never hesitate to dig in and
help..your contribution to this was awesome.
Thank you, Tony, for inviting us to again...... giving us a chance to
support our troops and their families.
We had a great time cookin', pullin' and servin' our troops. We had a
special time with great friends of BBQ, and look forward to doing this
again.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
John and Sharen
Posted by: Glen Stanley,
We sure got lucky with the weather, as it was looking to be a very wet
couple of days.
As always, Kyle & I enjoyed coming out to lend a hand with this event.
It doesn't really matter what we end up doing, we always have fun and
enjoy hanging out with the other volunteers.
I asked Kyle what his favorite part was. He said Dan's dirty rice, and
sitting in the trailer talking with Brent.
The first part I would have to agree with. The second part scares me
just a bit
It always seems to be the same handful of members that show up for these
events though. I know this is a busy time of year, and people have other
commitments, but it would be nice to see more support for such a great
cause.
My CBBQA Christmas Wish this year is going to be that more members come
out to lend a hand at these types of events in 2008.
Dan - those 3:00 am chats are sure fun, thanks for all your insight.
Dan sure is an amazing guy. When I'm able to stay awake for them, I do
enjoy those late night conversations. I never walk away from an event he
is at without learning something.
Glen Stanley
Posted by: Walt Norwood,
My mother Mary Ann
and I had a great time helping out. It was sure nice to get a chance to
put some faces to names from the forum. It was also nice to see some of
the long time supporters still hard at it. They added a level of
knowledge and GetRDone attitude to the event that it takes to pull off
these things.
I always learn so much coming to these events. Its easy to see a better
way to do so many of the little things we all take for granted. Some guy
has wheels under his trailer or extended legs on his cutting table or
the most comfortable folding chair I've ever seen. No matter who comes
or what their background I constantly learn a little more at everyone of
these events.
Thank you to all who turned out in support and thank you for the
opportunity to help.
Semper Fi.
Walt Norwood
Posted by: Dale Ginos,
Sure was a great
time. Tammy and I really enjoyed helping out and getting to know more
people. Friday night just hanging out, eating. visiting. preparing meat
and such, and visiting some more was really fun.
Dan - those 3:00 am chats are sure fun, thanks for all your insight.
Dale & Tammy Ginos
Posted by: Shelley
Winters,
Hello Everyone,
On behalf of my husband and myself, I would like to thank all of you for
making us feel so welcome. It really didn't feel like spending time with
folks we had never met before. We so very much enjoyed ourselves. And
yes, I had no idea 4500 people came through the lines. We are looking
forward to more involvement and lots of good times...And I know David is
looking forward to a time he can compete with the "big guys" of the
group and learn from everyone.
Thanks all !!!!! You made us feel like "ole timers" and it certainly was
appreciated.
David and I wish you all the happiest and safest of holidays.
Smiles to You All !!!
Shelley Winters
The Winmar Group
661.285.0269
661.285.0299 (Fax)
shelleywinters@winmargroup.com
www.winmargroup.com
Posted by: Dave Daneshmand,
Good Afternoon to all:
First off I want to thank Tony for inviting me to be a part of this
event... I had a great time and boy did I learn a lot!
I also would like to mention that it was an honor to be part of Dan's
team cooking the rice and I want to thank him again in trusting me to
cook one of his signature dishes, cooking rice next to none other than
Brent from BBQN4U was even more of a treat for me.
It is great to see when all you guys work hard to put such a huge event
and when it all works good it is a special feeling of accomplishment and
for a great cause and event.
You guys are the best.
Dave Daneshmand
Posted by: Dan Cannon,
I don't think that there is much more to say that has not been stated
above so I will limit my comments to a few bullet items:
- Thanks to Bill Wight for going in halves with me in contributing the
supplies for the Dirty Rice. For coming out to my place (90 miles
the opposite direction of his house and the base) to pick up the "Prep
Trailer" and haul it out to the base and then back to my place Sunday.
And, because of his help in pulling the trailer we were able to a have a
warm workspace to do all the prep work and assembly for the meats
and eggs Friday night, to make breakfast Saturday morning (Brent &
Dave), and to finally assemble and cook the Dirty Rice for noon serving.
And, especially, to provide a warm sheltered space for whoever-could-fit
to hang-out and stay warm for those late Friday and Saturday evening
social and chat sessions. Besides for that fact that he shelled
all the 360 eggs to portioned bowls Friday night. Then portioned
all all the ingredients (rice, meat, and onions) and provisioned Dave,
Brent, and Dale with the Rice fixings and scheduling Saturday.
- To those two "Dish Washing Machines", Glen and Kyle Stanley.
They stayed continuously busy all Friday night and Saturday keeping up
with the Kitchen Police duty. All pans, bowls, tubs, lids,
utensils, and whatever were always cleaned and sanitized instantly after
they were used. That sure helps a bunch for continuous cooking and
especially in getting home and having it a bit easier to get back to
normal versus having a stack tools to clean. Not to mention the
help Glen and Kyle provided with the meats needed for the Rice.
They and the "young Marines" prepped (chopped/pulled) 85 pounds of half
frozen meats needed for the 12 pans (each 24 quart braziers that feed
125-150) of Dirty Rice the next day.
- I can't neglect to mention
that Cecilia also got right in and handled a lot of the dishes on Friday
night as well.
- The Young Marines, who
worked with Glen and Kyle prepping the meats Friday night for use the
next day. Also, for prepping the 60 butts and delivering them to
me at my pit door to put into the pit for cooking that night. With
their help spelling us on the meats we could get the 360 eggs cooked and
meat prepped for the Rice while still getting the Butts on the pit for
the evening.
- To Brent Walton, Dave
Daneshmand, and Dale Ginos for not only cooking the eggs Friday evening
but also for manning the 3 Dirty Rice braziers from start to
finish (nine to noon). That meant they each had to cook four full
pots from the beginning of the process to the end. We needed 12
full pots to meet the projected plate requirements.
- Thanks to Mama Norwood for
keeping everybody, me included, stocked with hot coffee.
- Everybody can thank Tony
McDowell for getting us our breakfast fixings. Every year he
brings over pounds of bacon, dozens of eggs, and lots of potatoes.
That gets everybody ready for the task ahead.
- Everybody pulled together
and made the event very successful. I felt it was a great success,
appreciated by the troops and their families, and everybody together was
able to make it something very special. Many hands make little
work. Without everybody's help I certainly could not have done my
part.
- Pretty much everybody pictured and mentioned above cooked butts Friday
night. I just missed the opportunity to capture any pictures of
them being loaded, cooking, or being pulled by all the volunteers for
the troops. And, everybody did work hard and stayed up all night
cooking their products Bill and I were pretty busy trying to stay
up with having everything either in the cooker Friday night, prepped and
prepared for utilization the next day, or on schedule for serving from
noon to 16:00.
- As it turns out a few of the cooking volunteer folks needed to help
serve and that made for a long tough day on their feet.
Specifically Sharon Scott and Bill Wight were just a few that served the
entire 4 hours and were beat afterwards.
- Most everybody hung out
Saturday night as the weather was still great
Thanks Tony and Kelley for
making these events happen and inviting me out each time.
Sorry to any participating volunteers or folks helping that I might have
missed with the camera or made mention of. I did try and make the
rounds and capture as much as possible.
Thanks,
Dan Cannon
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