Another great class in Shannon, Illinois

This past weekend, Johnny Trigg and I returned to one of our all time favorite places to teach, Shannon, Illinois. Home of the world renowned Butt to Butt Invitational, Illinois State BBQ Championship and long time competition circuit favorites Mike and Theresa Lake, Shannon is a very small town with a population in the 300's. One gas station, one beer joint and no grocery store.

A truly great group of folks made the trek to north central Illinois for our Old School versus High Tech event. I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but again we had 14 states plus Canada represented. The energy and enthusiasm was high in the group. I've said this before too, but that level of excitement is what makes this class so much darn fun. I realize that it's the instructor's responsibility to create that environment and I think we're getting better at doing just that. If this group is any indication, we're doing a damn good job if I say so myself. One other thing, a special thanks to Bob Sammons. This is Bob's second class with us. He arrived early to help us set up and stayed late to help clean up. He brought gifts. Bob's just a great guy and Johnny and I are both glad to call him a friend, even if he supports North Carolina basketball.

Results from the classes are starting to appear already in 2009. Students in our February Great Bend class finished one and two in Pleasant Hill, Missouri this past weekend. Huge congrats to both of them. Most think we're in this for the money, and don't get me wrong, the paycheck is nice, but if we weren't getting great feedback and seeing great results, both Johnny and I would have long since hung up our teaching hats. The most fulfilling part of this whole thing is the successes of our students.

This weekend we're headed to Smokin' In The Spring in Osage City, Kansas. After cooking this event the first two years and winning the inaugural, we've been away for two years and we're excited to be getting back. Corey and the group do a great job and as usual, with 70 teams, it's shaping up to be another success. See you all somewhere!