As we pack the trailer in preparation to compete in the Fourth Annual Smokin’ Flamingo BBQ & Music Festival, I start to get excited about seeing all of my friends. A barbecue competition has little to do with actual competition for me. The chance to compete is exciting, but the chance to catch up with friends I haven’t seen in a while is even better.

Before Tortoise Q came into existence, I was just a home cook burning up meat on my grill. I used to watch every barbecue show that basic cable had to offer and dang near wore a hole in my library card. I would check out any and every book that had to do with live fire cooking. Facebook also had a ton of great barbecue groups and online barbecue forums (before it became a place to whine about politics).

One of the biggest influences from now to eternity was meeting Keith Hall of Seriously Smokin’ Barbecue. I don’t remember how I found him, but we probably posted in the same online barbecue forums. Keith had just come off of a Reserve Grand (2nd place overall) at the Jacksonville Backyard Championships and when I realized that he lived nearby, I knew I had to reach out.

I sent Keith a private message and gave him my sob story about how I was really into cooking but was pretty much terrible at it. I asked if it wasn’t too much trouble the next time he fired up his grill to cook, if I could come lend a hand and observe. He was very nice and invited me over later that week. I came with a pad of paper, a couple of pens and I was ready to work. I must have written two pages of notes that afternoon as Keith was prepping some briskets that would be for sale the next day.

Keith showed me my very first Stumps Smoker. Walter “Stump” McDowell, in my opinion, is the greatest pit builder that ever lived and Keith was a personal friend of his. Keith had helped Stump with his barbecue school that he runs at his shop in Centerville, Georgia.

I cook on a Stumps Smoker to this day and have been fortunate enough to learn from Stump himself. I didn’t get my first Stumps Smoker until years later, but Keith planted the seed about having the proper equipment to get the job done right. He also encouraged me to take a class at a reputable barbecue school if I ever wanted to compete. It was some of the best advice I ever received.

Keith told me about a guy by the name of Gary Park. Gary had recently opened a new barbecue restaurant (G’s Slow Smoked Barbecue) and Keith told me it was the only barbecue restaurant he would ever go to. Eventually I met Gary and he remains one of my closest friends to this day and still runs the finest barbecue joint I’ve ever been to.

So this weekend, as Tortoise Q struts down the long corridor towards barbecue immortality, we’re reminded of the friends that helped get us here. The competition itself is from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday but any other time is reserved for catching up with old buds, telling bad jokes and good natured fellowship. I ask that you never forget the name of my late and great friend Keith Hall and his team Seriously Smokin’ Barbecue. If you’ve got love for Tortoise Q, you’ve got love for my man Keith. Good luck with your own cooking and God bless.