SDMG 54th ANNUAL SPRING BARBEQUE

 

 

IN REVIEW

By Doug Peeler, BBQ Chairman

 

The initial chill and gray skies were beneficial during set-up, but when the wind rose and showers came after most of the auction items had been placed and tagged, things were looking a bit bleak.  Thankfully, Mike Harlow, ever prepared, produced plastic sheeting to cover everything.  With the help of Anne Schafer and others, our efforts were saved, with few bid tags needing to be rewritten.

Given the uncharacteristically gloomy weather for mid-May, there was a respectable turnout at this year's barbeque – the Silent Auction and Sign-in list was signed by 177 people.

Our initial concern that there might not have been enough club donations for the Silent Auction to stimulate interest from the bidders was soon allayed by a flood of items brought for sale by members, vendors, and other SDMG friends.

Not long into the auction the intrepid souls who braved the threat of angry skies and blustering winds were rewarded with a reprieve – the rain and wind abated, and the sun broke through.  The more moderate weather this year left no one complaining about the heat or lack of shade trees.  Within half an hour lunch was served – perfect timing.  If ticket sales for the catered lunch courtesy of The Barbeque Pit were sluggish this year, we managed to meet the 100-ticket minimum threshhold plus a few more.  Thank you to the crew at The Barbeque Pit for preparing an excellent meal.

The most well-represented items in the Silent Auction were books, gem rough, and faceted stones.  We have some very generous members who put smiles on the faces of many a bidder.  New this year in managing the auction was requiring bidders to wear wrist bands, so that un-registered bidders could be identified rapidly.  This year there were no reports of "missing" auction items.  One bidder did not bid in approved increments and went away in a huff, leaving the items he had won to be purchased by the next highest (happy) bidders.

Although there were fewer vendors this year, everyone seemed to be happy with their sales, and some reported doing much better than the previous year.

Clean-up at the end of the afternoon progressed like a well-oiled machine, all volunteers pitching in where needed, and litter was picked up without a word.  All-in-all, attendees told me they had a good time and thought the event went well.

Thank you to our Vendors, who braved the elements to come out and cheerfully participate in the 54th Annual Barbeque: Gerry Alvarado, Richard Mueller, Marta Jarbo, Mary Rhodes, David Vilett, and Gems By Rasheed.

As usual, our Member-Volunteers made it all possible.  Heaps of thanks to all of them for making our Annual Barbeque enjoyable for everyone and successful for both the Vendors and the Club.

Diane Willner and Denny Turner
Hostess table

Lucia and Tom Barckley
The Ugly Rock Contest

Gladys Walker and Simon King
The Door Prize Raffle

Anne Schafer  ·  Wayne Moorehead

Mike Harlow  ·  Carl Shugart

Jim Stafford  ·  Andy Anderson

Tim Bickford  ·  Tom Strutton

Jill Williamson  ·  Gerry Alvarado

John Kruzel  ·  Dee Smith

Garry and Angie Cannon

Lauren Smith  ·  James Newland

Wayne and Peggy Leibitzke

Jennifer "Cat" Stapp

Amber and Nateshe Tidwell

Jessie Chang Farley

Doug Canon  ·  Dick Mayer

 

 

The 2015 Ugly Rock Contest

By Anne Schafer, Roving Reporter

 

On a rainy, windy, completely abnormal weather day in May, at the 54th Annual SDMG Barbeque, ten superlatively ugly rocks were brought forth by their proud owners and entered in their own special contests.

Beautiful Ugly Rock Contest supervisors Tom and Lucia Barckley ran a clean election – and not just because of the rain and drizzle – making sure the your votes didn't blow away.  Now, for the highly anticipated results:

Ugly Rocks.  Just when you thought you had seen it all, here comes Jean Bradley's First Place unsightly rock, "Blech!," winning by a landslide!  Who knew petrified puke could be such a crowd-pleaser?  August Martinez's severely frozen, quartz figurine, "Crystal Man," took Second Place.

Mimic Rocks are supposed to look like something – we don't actually care what – but should definitely be recognizable.  No problem!  Dr. Ray Pearce apparently did a little neurosurgery on a fossil critter in his garage, carefully extracting "The Brain" to enter in this contest.  And the result?  First Place!  Jean Bradley found this little leftover spud in the bottom of a bag of red potatoes, so old that it had petrified: "Small Potato" won second.  And in third place, we have Jim Stafford's entirely too realistic "Meteorite."  (Are we sure that wasn't the real thing?)  Also competing were Jen Caltaballotta's "Rock Bin" and Peggy Leibitzke's "Original Mickey."

Embellished Rocks are the most advanced category; not only must an ugly rock be found, it requires augmentation!  Robert Bradley served up a "Decadent" faux-mousse pie slice on fine china with a silver fork, to win First Place.  Yum  While slicing his way though the orange calcite heart of a septarian nodule, Dr. Ray Pearce broke through into the hollow center, revealing "The Barite King" reposing inside.  More than good enough for Second Place.  The perennial, multi-colored favorite, "Rock Chorus," was presented by Amber Tidwell, who took home Third Place honors.

Thank you all for participating, and I hope your rocks made it safely home with you.