Christmas Barbecue for Kids

Christmas Barbecue for Kids -- a great success

By JOE O'CONNELL, scbbqa Director and Vice President
First posted December 20, 2001 at 2:58 PM PST (2258 GMT)
Last updated January 29, 2002 at 8:41 PM PST (0421 GMT)

LAKESIDE, California -- Santa Claus made an early visit to dozens of needy children and their families in California.

The children were the guests of honor at the Christmas Barbecue for Kids, an annual party hosted by the Southern California Barbecue Association to benefit needy children. The party included a Christmas concert, an authentic barbecue dinner with all the trimmings, and a visit by Santa Claus, who brought presents for all the children.

Gina Hayes and Santa Claus with three happy children.

The event was organized by Gina Hayes, with the assistance of dozens of members of the Southern California Barbecue Association.

Association

The Southern California Barbecue Association is a non-profit charitable corporation. The Association helps needy children and promotes an understanding and appreciation of authentic American barbecue. Barbecue veterans help teach the history and art of barbecue to the public. Few Americans have ever tasted real barbecue, which balances the taste and tenderness of meat with six essential components: smoke, the flavor and heat of original American chili spices, and the perfect proportion of salty, sweet, sour and bitter tastes.

Preparations

Members of the Association arrived Friday afternoon to begin preparing the barbecue and decorating the dining room and concert hall.

Dean Hayes, Dan Cannon, Todd Eves, Andy Refalo and Joe O'Connell arrived early Friday afternoon to begin preparing the barbecue. Gina Hayes and her team of volunteers worked for weeks preparing the decorations, and they arrived Friday afternoon to begin decorating the halls with Christmas trees, table centerpieces, candles and other holiday decorations.

Dan Cannon and Dean Hayes worked all night cooking barbecue for the children.

Early Saturday morning, many other Association members arrived to help prepare the barbecue, including Gene Goycochea, who brought his huge pit, Don Grissom, Bill Bruggema (a local firefighter, who played Santa), Gary Balbach, Bill Wight, Don Iverson, Ray Wright, Carl Kaun, Bill Stadler, and many other members, wives and friends. They brought appetizers, side dishes and several desserts, and they helped complete the preparations and organize the event.

Authentic American barbecue is cooked "low n slow", which means that it is cooked at the relatively low temperature of around 240F, so that it cooks slowly over wood coals. As a result, some meat takes 15 hours or more to cook, during which barbecue veterans (called " pitmasters" in honor of their skill) monitor the fire and temperature. Members of the Association combine the joy of helping needy children with an interest in learning how to cook authentic barbecue. A few members of the Association are barbecue experts called "pitmasters", in honor of the traditional pit barbecue design. Pitmasters are veterans who enjoy teaching barbecue history and secrets to the public and novice cooks. Association members of all skill levels meet monthly to host picnics for needy children throughout the State at barbecue events, such as festivals and contests and this Christmas Barbecue for Kids.

Activities

The barbecue included refreshments, a Christmas concert, barbecue dinner, and visit by Santa Claus, who brought gifts for each child. The schedule was:

4:00 pm -- Refreshments

5:00 pm -- Concert

6:00 pm -- Dinner

7:00 pm -- Santa Claus visit, followed by dessert

The evening will ended at 8:00 pm.

Refreshments

The children and their families began to arrive at 4:00 for light refreshments, including appetizers and punch. The children and their families were greeted by Gina Hayes, Committee Chair for the event, and other Association members.

Refreshments included a variety of appetizers, including an excellent salmon smoked to perfection by Carl Kaun. Carl also prepared a crab appetizer, which everyone enjoyed. Along with the salmon and crab, the guests were treated to chips and salsa, several cheeses and other delicious hors d'oeuvres prepared by members of the Association.

Welcome

Before the concert, the guests were welcomed by Gina Hayes, the event organizer. Gina explained that the annual Christmas Barbecue for Kids brings together members of the Association with the local community in order to help needy children celebrate the joy of Christmas with a traditional American barbecue. Gina thanked the many volunteers who worked so long and hard to prepare the Christmas Barbecue, including several members who were up all night cooking the barbecue. Gina told the children that this volunteer spirit reflected the true meaning of Christmas.

Gene Goycochea shows his barbecue pit to a few of the guests.

Gina introduced Pastor Mike Crandall, who generously provided the Harvest Christian Fellowship hall and kitchen for the Christmas Barbecue for Kids. Pastor Mike has been a community leader in Lakeside for 20 years and is well-known for his entertaining yet spiritual style. Pastor Mike welcomed the many children and their families, and he then offered a prayer for the victims of the 9/11 attack and their families.

He also reminded the guests that American soldiers, at that very moment, were fighting the enemies of freedom in Afghanistan. He explained to the children that many of the soldiers had children of their own -- children who will not be with their mother or father this Christmas. He asked the children to say a prayer for their safe return, and he offered an invocation in thankfulness for the children's barbecue and spoke about the true meaning of Christmas.

Concert

After the welcome by Gina and benediction by Pastor Mike, the Christmas Barbecue for Kids included a concert by the Harvest Christian Fellowship choir and ensemble. The choir was directed by DeeDee Goodrich, and the ensemble was conducted by George Garris.

The children sang Christmas carols and songs, including Silent Night, Jungle Bells, Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer, and other traditional Christmas songs. The musical ensemble played compositions by Handel, Bach, and Tchaikovsky.

Trivia
Gene Autry, the singing cowboy and Western movie star who later owned the California Angels, wrote Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer.

After the concert, all the guests gathered in the beautifully decorated dining room for dinner.

Barbecue

The Christmas Barbecue for Kids included a traditional barbecue with all the side dishes.

The guests learned that barbecue is America's only authentic cuisine. Native Americans used the word and the cooking method long before the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria sailed from Spain into the Caribbean in 1492. The Native Americans taught Christopher Columbus and the Spanish explorers how to cook meat and fish at a low temperature, very slowly over wood coals, a cooking technique that they called barbecue.

The Spanish explorers returned to Europe with a new word and a new cooking method, which rapidly spread across Europe. Sixty years later, English colonists brought the word and method back to America.

Presidents from George Washington to George Bush have practiced and enjoyed America's only authentic cuisine, the Taino Native American word and cooking method called barbecue.

Bill Bruggema and Gene Goycochea serving barbecue to hungry children.

The barbecue included prime-grade sirloin tri-tip, pork shoulder and chicken. All of the meat was provided by the generous contribution of Bristol Farms, "an extraordinary food store" in Southern California. Bristol Farms has the finest prime-grade meat and poultry, which was cooked to barbecue perfection.

Guests also enjoyed macaroni and cheese (a kids' favorite), mashed potatoes, barbecue beans, salsa, potato salad, and many other side dishes, which were cooked and donated by members of the Association.

Santa's visit

After dinner, Santa Claus paid a surprise visit to the cheers of all the children.

Santa was dressed in his best red suit, and the little children tugged on his long white beard. He spoke to each of the children, asking their names, whether they were naughty or nice, and to give Christmas presents to each child.

Each child received two Christmas presents -- a useful gift and a fun gift.

Courtney thanks Santa for her Christmas present

The useful gifts were age-appropriate books and drawing or writing journals. The Christmas presents of books, journals, book bags, pens, calculators and many other gifts were provided by the generosity of the barbecue Q'munity members David Spriggs and Mary Budde, of New Books Cheap, which sells new barbecue and other books at less than half price. The fun gifts were toys and games, which were provided by the generous contribution of Toys R Us.

After Santa's visit, the children and their families finished the evening by being treated to dessert, including ice cream, chocolate fudge and Christmas cookies.

Bristol Farms

Bristol Farms -- an extraordinary food store -- is an official sponsor of the Association and of the Christmas Barbecue for Kids. To assist the Association in its mission of helping needy children, Bristol Farms made a major contribution to the Association by providing all the sirloin, pork and chicken for the Saturday barbecue.

Bristol Farms is the official sponsor of the Association's competition team, Out of This World (Gary Tackett, Gene Goycochea and Todd Eves).

In addition, the Association's competition team Dueling Bubbas (Don Grissom and Derek Muller) serves as perhaps the best spokesmen for Bristol Farms. For the 2001 barbecue contest season, the team purchased its meats from Bristol Farms and won Best Chicken of the Year 2001, Best Ribs of the Year 2001, Best Brisket of the Year 2001, and the grand championship award as Team of the Year 2001.

The Association urges its members to show their appreciation by patronizing and telling their friends about Bristol Farms.

New Books Cheap

New Books Cheap -- for new books at less than half price -- is an official sponsor of the Association and of the Christmas Barbecue for Kids. To assist the Association in its mission of helping needy children, New Books Cheap made a major contribution to the Association by providing Christmas presents for all the children, including books, journals and other gifts.

New Books Cheap is operated by David Spriggs and Mary Budde. Both are long-time friends of the barbecue Q'munity nation-wide and of the Southern California Barbecue Association, in particular. In addition to making a generous contribution for the Christmas Barbecue for Kids, New Books Cheap made a major contribution of over $10,000 for the Association's 2002 barbecue events to help needy children.

The Association urges its members to show their appreciation by patronizing and telling their friends about New Books Cheap.

Toys R Us

Toys R Us -- for retail and online toys -- is an official sponsor of the Association and of the Christmas Barbecue for Kids. To assist the Association in its mission of helping needy children, Toys R Us made a major contribution to the Association by providing Christmas presents for the children.

In addition to making a generous contribution for the Christmas Barbecue for Kids, Toys R Us sponsors several other of the Association's barbecue events to help needy children, including the annual Surf and Turf California State Barbecue Championship contest in Imperial Beach.

The Association urges its members to show their appreciation by patronizing and telling their friends about Toys R Us.

Geno's Sauce

Geno's Sauce -- the all-in-one barbecue sauce -- is an official sponsor of the Association and of the Christmas Barbecue for Kids. To assist the Association in its mission of helping needy children, Geno's Sauce made a major contribution to the Association by providing Christmas presents for the children and its assistance in the barbecue. In addition, Geno's Sauce sponsors several other Association's events to help needy children.

The Association urges its members to show their appreciation by patronizing and telling their friends about Geno's Sauce.

Geno’s Barbecue Sauce
Available in fine restaurants & specialty stores!