Thanks
Wow. What a day yesterday.
Our BBQ fundraiser at Ward Park was the biggest event we have yet put together. Not sure if official totals will even be possible, but we served up approximately 300 plates of BBQ. Exactly what we planned for. Donations plus money from new memberships at the event totaled around $4000. Since we had several sponsors help us keep costs at a minimum, most of that money will go towards the 2007 legislative effort.
I must publicly thank the people who made the event work. It was a huge success.
First and foremost, a HUGE thank you goes to Chris Eidson. He took two days off work and rearranged some important dates on his personal calendar to buy all the food and do the lion's share of the prep work and cooking. Without his expertise and hard work, there simply would have been no FTH BBQ Fundraiser.
Thanks for food prep also goes out to David Darden and Andy Barnett, who each smoked giant portions of pork shoulder Friday night. Thanks to Gabe Harris for coordinating all the logistical details surrounding use of the park and for acting as a liaison with the Parks Board. Thanks to Jason Womack for running all over Birmingham Friday afternoon picking up various items donated from our sponsors. Thanks to Gottfried Kibelka for working the table accepting donations as people first entered the pavilion. Thanks to Brad Pritchett for picking up 60 chickens from Tyson, marinating them overnight, and towing the grill on site to cook them. Thanks to everyone who worked the PR table, served up the beer, worked the food serving line, and spent all day standing over a hot grill cooking up the chicken. Mostly unexciting but critical jobs.
And our sponsors were crucial to the success of the event. Birmingham Beverage let us use their folding tables, printed up all of our signs, and coordinated the donations of the kegs from their suppliers. Rojo donated chipotle slaw and gigantic portions of chips and salsa. Western Supermarkets donated a long list of supplies such as napkins, wax paper, plastic cups, plates, forks, etc. Vulcan Beverage donated an unbelievable amount of ice and also helped us fill in the gaps when we started running out of things like plastic cups. And of course, many thanks to the breweries who donated beer. Because of their generosity, we were able to serve up (free of charge): Terrapin Rye Pale Ale, Olde Towne Hefeweizen, Sweetwater IPA, Bridgeport IPA, and Blue Moon Belgian White. All excellent craft beers. And thanks to the Black & White for adding us to their events calendar and running our cardholder promotion for three weeks.
And thank you Ross Chester and HoneyBaked for providing great music. Folks, be sure to seek these guys out when you're looking for something to do on a Friday night. I was blown away. I can promise you that from now on I'll be keeping an eye on the music calendar in the Black & White and will be making an effort to see some more HoneyBaked shows. I was so busy Saturday that I hardly had a chance to step back and enjoy their performance. I want to see more of them and we'll try to get them involved in future FTH events.
And last but certainly not least, thanks to everyone who came out and made a donation. If y'all hadn't shown up, it would have been a lot of effort for nothing. But several hundred of you did come out and open your wallets and supported the cause. We appreciate it, and I firmly believe that next year you'll see the fruits of your investment in bringing Alabama into the 21st Century.
Free the hops!
