The First Annual Christmas On the Trail Chili Cook-off is in the books and J.K.Townsend has been declared he winner. I feel behooved to try and name all of the folks that made it a success. First has to be the cooks. J.K. Townsend was sponsored by the United Methodist Women, Linda Harrison cooked for the Peoples Bank, John Snider was at the helm of the Ryan city employees team, although Deb Reynolds made cornbread because they were of the opinion that crackers just would not do. Cody Rodriquez led the Ryan Volunteer Fire Fighters, Justin Dewbre, Raquel Welchel cooked for the Ryan FFA and the list of competitors was rounded out by Jared Dyer that cooked what he called green chili. I personally had never seen anything quite like it but I can tell you it was good. We had three fine judges, although there have been charges of cahootinizing among the judges and one member of the group that hosted the event. Ricky Martin, Kristi Hamm Whitford and Mike Retos all did a good job and worked for very little pay. I can’t say enough good things about the band, The Upper Road Band. They kept everyone entertained and did it with two of the three members feeling under the weather. Alana Miranda, Seth Miranda and J.D. Martin comprise the band and covered everything from classic country to soft rock to Tom Petty and along the way made us laugh. I think I will see if they can do some Molly Hatchet (that is what I am listening to). Every time they are asked to help they step up and do a wonderful job. All three deserve a lot of praise. Thank you to everyone that came out and supported the cause, the cause of coarse being the Christmas On the Trail tree lighting festival that with take place in early December. All of the fund raising goes toward paying for the day of fun that is planned for children and grownups alike.
On the subject of music that I am listening to, you would think on that long ride across that desert that they could have found a name for that horse.
Bill Roberson
Bill Roberson passed away this week messing with his old cows. I first came into contact with Bill when I was a small boy playing baseball, he coached a couple of the teams that I played on. Even to a kid it was obvious that he loved sports. Another love was music. He loved playing music, listening to music and taking about music. This was a side of Bill that I saw when I reconnected with him as a grownup. The one thing that Bill talked about the most was his family. We sometimes spent hours on this very subject, he even got to where he would say “stop me if you have heard this”. I am glad that I never did. Bill Roberson will be sorely missed.
