Twentynine Palms Marine Base,
Winterfest Saturday Dinner at the Base Community Center
1-2-December-2006
    
Cooks & Volunteers Contributing & Cooking
for Marines & their Families
1000+ Marines & Families were in Attendance Saturday ...  
       
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Friday Night Arrival and Setup

Most volunteers had indicated they would be arriving Friday around 18:00.  That would typically be after their day job was over and they could then rush like crazy to gather together the supplies and equipment they needed. Then head out to Twentynine Palms Marine Base as quickly as possible.

I was lucky in that I had gone into work about 4 hours early and ended up arriving at the base by 16:30.    There standing on the sidewalk adjacent to the community center was Del.   He reviewed the facilities with me and then guided me into my setup and parking spot for the duration.

I was able to have everything setup by 17:00 and just sit back to watch all the subsequent arrivals and their going through the same routine. Tony McDowell was also there and provided everybody with any needed information or supplies. 

Folks & Volunteers Arriving and in Attendance were

• Tony McDowell

• Thom Emery

• Del King and Gunny (his dog)

• Bill Wight

• Joe Miles

• Linda Burke

• Glen and Kyle Stanley

• Steve MacMillan

• John Tong

• John & Sharon Scott of Papa's Smokehouse BBQ

• Brent & Kim Walton of QN4U BBQ

• Todd Eves of Western Rebel BBQ

• Dan Cannon (me) of BBQbyDan

• Seven attending Junior Reserve Officer Training Candidates (JROTC) and their group leader.

Most everyone was on site and relaxing by 19:00.  Tony McDowell, Joe Miles, and Linda Burke were pulling double duty in that they had come directly over to the community center from the sport field where they had worked with another group of volunteers all day feeding the troops at the Combat Challenge. 

After most all folks had arrived Friday evening Tony went out and picked up $60 worth of pizza for everybody to enjoy.  Can you believe there was NO wind (we have had a lot the last two weeks), the evening temperature was a mild 38-42 (we have had a cold snap also) , and we had a nice relaxing dinner while catching up with new and old friendships.  Most folks were staying in the base hotel.   John and Sharon were staying in their motor home at the center.  I was sleeping in my van by my pit.    However, the community center remained open all evening for everybody's convenience.  What a very nice thing that was.

About 20:00 everybody started to prep the 19 Briskets that Del had brought.  That probably took 30-45 minutes.  We then popped them into my Ole Hickory and were done with that task for the evening.  After  that it was just  a  matter  of  wrapping  up  loose  ends,  settling in for the evening, and enjoying  the social environment while  hanging  around  a  couple of dollied propane infrared radiant heaters I brought out to stay warm by.

Saturday Morning Preparation and Serving

I got up just prior to 08:00.  Del and Gunny were already up and checking out the grounds.  I checked the briskets and they were done.  All 19 went into a cooler.

Bill Wight arrived and we made (mostly he) breakfast for everybody. Again thanks to Tony we had eggs and bacon for all.  After breakfast Bill and I started two 24 quart braziers of Dirty Rice that would feed roughly 300+ folks.    We completed that and dropped it into the Cambros.  John, Sharon, Brent, and Glen, then started slicing the brisket which took about 60-90 minutes.  Somebody threw a split turkey into my pit and we hurried up and got that ready for our 11:00 serving time.

By 11:00 everything was ready to go.    The serving line was setup, volunteers in place, and folks started arriving.    Joe Miles and Linda helped with the serving line a lot and also served.  The JROTC volunteers did the bulk of the serving and hung in there for close to 4 hours. We were told they opened up the lunch to the base.  So, we had a lot of attendees.  A Christmas tree vendor had also contributed 300 trees to the families.  So, not only could the attendees come over and have a nice meal they also got a nice Christmas tree.

So, after a few hours most all the planned and prepared food was used up. Tony and the base folks quickly had to acquire more food from the base facilities.  After all, the lines were out the front door and into the parking lot with families waiting for a meal!  Magically from somewhere more potato salad, hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, and whatever, appeared.  Then the volunteers built a quick BBQ fire and toasted the buns, and grilled the burgers and dogs.  At the end of the day nobody (that I am aware of) went away without a meal, most all got a tree, and everybody in attendance making this event happen had done a great job.  It is nice to go to an event where all the food is used and the attendance was much greater than expected.   

From my low-altitude perspective everything went great, everybody did a great job, and it went perfectly.  I want to thank Glen and Kyle for doing such a great job and helping wash, clean, and dry so much of the (my) cooking utensils, that was a big help.  Also, John and Sharon brought out their great looking and very functional Papa’s BBQ Rig to provide hardware and facilitation support.  And the JROTC volunteers and staff  were the best.  Always right there to help in any way they can to the maximum, as usual.

Del King and Tony McDowell did a great job of coordinating the event, volunteers, resources, and ensuring everybody was provided with what they needed to make everything perfect.  I always appreciate being asked to be a part of these great events.

Dan Cannon

www.BBQbyDan.com

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