Page 11 - March 2021 Barbecue News Magazine

Last month’s edition of the Barbecue News Magazine had some great stories about Mr. Mike Mills. I truly enjoyed reading them and have to share a couple stories. My first BBQ competition was back in the mid 2000s and before I went and set up to cook,
I bought his book called Peace. Love, and BBQ. I read the entire book from cover to cover. I teach backyard BBQ classes and tell every- one to buy this book. Two things that stick in my mind that Mike wrote, “If you have been at a BBQ competition for over 15 minutes and have not made new friends, something is wrong with you!” He also talked about get- ting some of his com- petitors to have too much fun so it would give him an advantage to win. Setting up a lit- tle bar and having your friends have a headache the next day did work for me a few times!
We were at the Jack
Daniels contest in 2011
and truly enjoyed every
minute. The awards
were something to truly
enjoy and we walked up
to the big crowd and
Mike Mills invited us to
sit next to him. He was amazing to talk with and was a true gentleman. We got several calls and he was genuinely as excited for us.
We got invited to sit on a Q&A panel during one of the the Sonny’s Invitational contests a few years back. There were several award-winning cooks, including Mr. Mills, and we were asked all kinds of questions. I was honored to be a part of this group and sure enjoyed hearing Mr. Mills talk about BBQ. I was fast becoming a big BBQ fan and was truly lucky to spend time with this gentleman. Since I got in- volved in the competition BBQ world, I have tried to spread the love of this sport and its great people. I always tell everyone meeting Mike Mills was a true honor. Love and prayers to the Mills Family.
We have figured out that putting some hickory and char- coal smoke in the air keeps folks healthier. We keep a
steady smoke cloud coming out of the country kitchen and when I get up around 4 am to check on everything the neighborhood smells really good! We are getting ready to go to Texas for the SCA steak World Championship and are
doing a lot of steak practices. We are truly excited to make another trip to Dallas and Fort Worth Texas areas. I am hoping to get enough time to run out to Dan and Diane Wolny's place to check out their grow- ing farm. They have a cool pony and a minia- ture donkey who makes me want to have one! Work moved them from Florida to Texas and we surely miss them all!
I used to fly my Ameri- can flags at every con- test we went to and I miss that part of con- tests. I have a flag out- side my shop and fly them on my trailer at events. I am looking to get me a big flagpole to hang “Old
Glory” proudly in front of my house. My friend John Sweeney gave me a huge flag that adorns the back wall of my shop and I also have several flags hanging in my shop. I am not afraid
to say I am proud to be American and I love my country. Let’s pray that the people in charge make the right deci-
MARCH 2021
BarbecueNews.com - 11