UPDATE

Hold'em & Hit'em, What's that all about? Well here's the answer! 

The Hold Em & Hit Em Club was established by men from the Main Corral Club of the Houston Livestock Show in the mid 1970’s

as a group to promote the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It was decided at that time that all active members would be

designated Presidents. Since that beginning, the club has grown to be recognized and respected as an active force in the community

with over 90 active Presidents and some 20 honorees. The primary goal of the Hold Em & Hit Em Club is the support of youth,

education and charities, while at the same time providing a vehicle for the gathering together of friends and families of similar

interests. This is accomplished through active participation by club members at auctions at various county fairs. In the past, the

club raised funds through raffles, dues, contributions, and its own annual Bar-B-Que cook-off to support these causes. HHC has

been granted 501 (c)(3) status, thus, making the club a non-profit organization, as recognized by the IRS. 

(Courtesy of HCC System Financial Aid Office)

 

 

A special thanks to all of our family, friends, and neighbors who came out to the cook. With a full moon and nippy weather we had a great time and our BBQ was the best ever. Our neighbors "The Fireman" with BCB Cooker's to the West ( Russell & Cecilia Coleman from Clute, Texas), John Truesdell (Littlejohns's Bar-B-Que) to the North, and David Slusher (Bandana Cookers) to the South of us, we sure had great neighbors. David lost his bandana the first day, Russell showed us how to put out a fire, and John showed Russell the easy way to put out the flames. You just had to be there! We traded Vince Lepka for Joy Lancaster. Vince forged ahead and helped out in the judging while Joy gave us her tips on how to tickle the ribs. Thanks Joy for all the help, you sure gave us some great tips! Way to go Russell, by the way Darrell is no longer allowed to cross the line and help you in your meat selection.  He's our Pit Boss not your Meat Selector! My old team mates from Mis-B-Havin' (Robert Crocker, Robert Mendez, Armondo Gracia, & Darrell DeBlance) came by to warm us up with a shot of Tequila .Thanks guys! Bobby and Jill Blankenship were on hand to do some cookin' and hey there Bobby, who's got cluckin' rights? Way to go Jill!  You know you see Ronnie Latil and David Slusher all the time with their hats on and when cold weather rolls around, for some odd reason, they want a cold tan.. So we welcome Ronnie Latil and David Slusher to the Lost Hat Club!  Walter Cochran and Peggy had the warmest tent in the place, it's 34 deg and here comes Walter in his PJ's. What a man!

 

Friday night we had a nice surprise visit by Eric & Faye Ford with posse, and also , Freddie & Tracie Miller with their posse. On Saturday the Allstate folks came by; Jack & Marlene Wolf, Lance & Selma Ragle, and Joe Toman. Joe helped out in the Judging area. He is also on the board of directors with the Houston Farm & Ranch Club. Thanks Joe!

 

Hats off to the Houston Farm & Ranch Club for all their support. Steve Posey was there from start to finish. With cool weather, the ice sales along with gate sales were on the low end but you know down here in Texas, we are use to summer weather even when it's spring time in Alaska and 40 below and you know we don't get out much when it's cold.

 

I talked to Vince about the overall quality of the food that was turned in for judging and he pointed out that after a year in competition cook-offs that this  BBQ was the best he had ever seen. So you Cookers out there who won, you had some mighty fine food. Just think, there were 102 other entries that were tied for 11th place. Congratulations!

 

I was told by someone, who is in the know, that our fearless leader "Sergeant Sandy" did one fine job of keeping the judging area moving. You know she has really earned her stripes! I must admit I really like the 2 hour times between turn- ins. It would really be great if all the cook offs had this time frame. Gives you that little extra so we're not tripping all over the place. Hey Charlie Lancaster, I know you worked real hard and just wanted to say thanks! There are many other folks with the IBCA that were helping with the judging and all of us cooker's really appreciate your dedication and service. We really feel like everyone gets a fair shake.

 

The Moonlight Cooker's will be in Austin at the VFW 8787 15th Annual Chilly Chili Bar-B-Que Cookoff on Feb 7th & 8th. Check out our schedule under events on our website.

  For those of you who did not make the cook, perhaps you can come out the next time. 

 

Don Wright

 

 

 

 

The Moonlight Cookers

http://www.moonlightcookers.com