This should be in March KCBS Bullsheet!
Alpha and Omega
by Candy Sue Weaver, KCBS MCBJ #5866, member #11370
Chief cook, BBQr’s Delight
I met Ronnie Cates in 1999 through work. Cates and Company Creative (https://www.catesandcompany.com/website.html) is a premier design firm, founded by Ronnie Cates. BBQr’s Delight was a semi-new company and it was my job to grow the business. Ronnie helped with brochures and other marketing materials. He was also the organizer for Smoke on the Water, a barbeque contest held the third weekend of September. I attended marketing BBQr’s Delight to the public. Organizers asked for samples of wood pellets to put in goodie bags for teams as time went on.
In 2003, I got a call from Ronnie, “Candy, I know you can cook. Please enter the barbeque contest this year. I need to make 70 teams for the #1 sponsor!”
“There’s no way I can cook the big meats! But I can do backyard.” So BBQr’s Delight BBQ team was born with me, myself and I as the team members. I entered chicken, ribs and sauce. I won sauce! Reel me in I was hooked! This started a BBQ adventure with KCBS judging class; Dr. BBQ’s cooking class (even went to grad school, cleaning up after Ray at the contest in Winchester, TN); begged hard and judged the Clarksville, TN contest and others. Got a Tucker pellet cooker from friends in Memphis. Went to a small contest in Springdale, AR that Arlie Bragg organized and repped. I was so pleased that BBQr’s Delight wasn’t DAL!
Jumping ahead a few years (full of contests!), my first qualifier GC happened at Smoke on the Water Isle of Capri Casino in Lula, MS. Organized by Ronnie Cates at the casino that was on the east side of the Mississippi River. My Dad came along. I was cooking on the pellet-fired Jambo J3 pulled by Chevy 2500 (with a topper on the back). It was tough doing the setup thing. That Lula GC got the down payment on my first class B RV.
On the way home, Dad said, “If me going to a contest is your good luck charm, you’re just out of luck from now on. I’m not going again!”
It was a long stretch before my next GC!
<several photos here of contests and winners>
I made a habit through the years of attending Smoke on the Water events, especially if they were close to home. Ronnie organized the most beautiful contest I attended. It was at the airport in Hot Springs and there was a balloon festival at the same time. It was remarkable for BBQr’s Delight with a first place in ribs!
Ronnie Cates was big on BIG MONEY contests! His Big Money contests promised a Big reward at the top of the score sheet and always paid deep into the results – usually to 15th place! His contests were well run, fair and fun!
Ronnie was one of just a handful of organizers who were exempt from KCBS 90 day rules. Generally contests couldn’t be sanctioned if there wasn’t 90 days from the application to the date
of the event. Because these super-organizers knew the ins and outs of KCBS events, they could sanction with only a 60 day window.
I spoke to Ronnie before Smoke on the Water at Regional Park, Pine Bluff, AR last year. I told him that I intended SOTW to be my last KCBS contest cooking. Being the communicator, he announced this to all the cook teams at the cooks meeting. Alpha and Omega, first to last with lots of Friends, Fellowship and Fun in BBQ in between.
Rest in peace, Ronnie Cates. You will be greatly missed. Candy Sue Weaver, BBQr’s Delight
Randy and Carol Bigler were always Ronnie’s go-to contest reps. Carol adds to conclude:
Randy and I were very fortunate to meet Dennis and Betty Cates at one of our very first contests. They introduced their son Ronnie to us shortly thereafter and a lifelong friendship was born with the entire family. They were a true BBQ family. Everyone pitched in to do their part to make a successful contest from parking the rigs to selecting the judges, there was a Cates family member in charge. Kirby Ronnie and Eddie would place the teams. Miss Betty and Kim would check in teams and select judges. This entire family put heart and soul into all their contests. They always wanted to make them bigger and better. Ronnie was one of the first to offer big money payouts along with winning cars or trucks.
With Ronnie’s passing, his vision of how a BBQ contest could showcase the world of BBQ comes to an end. We will miss Eddie, Dennis, Betty and now you. Thank you for all the memories.
Alpha and Omega
by Candy Sue Weaver, KCBS MCBJ #5866, member #11370
Chief cook, BBQr’s Delight
I met Ronnie Cates in 1999 through work. Cates and Company Creative (https://www.catesandcompany.com/website.html) is a premier design firm, founded by Ronnie Cates. BBQr’s Delight was a semi-new company and it was my job to grow the business. Ronnie helped with brochures and other marketing materials. He was also the organizer for Smoke on the Water, a barbeque contest held the third weekend of September. I attended marketing BBQr’s Delight to the public. Organizers asked for samples of wood pellets to put in goodie bags for teams as time went on.
In 2003, I got a call from Ronnie, “Candy, I know you can cook. Please enter the barbeque contest this year. I need to make 70 teams for the #1 sponsor!”
“There’s no way I can cook the big meats! But I can do backyard.” So BBQr’s Delight BBQ team was born with me, myself and I as the team members. I entered chicken, ribs and sauce. I won sauce! Reel me in I was hooked! This started a BBQ adventure with KCBS judging class; Dr. BBQ’s cooking class (even went to grad school, cleaning up after Ray at the contest in Winchester, TN); begged hard and judged the Clarksville, TN contest and others. Got a Tucker pellet cooker from friends in Memphis. Went to a small contest in Springdale, AR that Arlie Bragg organized and repped. I was so pleased that BBQr’s Delight wasn’t DAL!
Jumping ahead a few years (full of contests!), my first qualifier GC happened at Smoke on the Water Isle of Capri Casino in Lula, MS. Organized by Ronnie Cates at the casino that was on the east side of the Mississippi River. My Dad came along. I was cooking on the pellet-fired Jambo J3 pulled by Chevy 2500 (with a topper on the back). It was tough doing the setup thing. That Lula GC got the down payment on my first class B RV.
On the way home, Dad said, “If me going to a contest is your good luck charm, you’re just out of luck from now on. I’m not going again!”
It was a long stretch before my next GC!
<several photos here of contests and winners>
I made a habit through the years of attending Smoke on the Water events, especially if they were close to home. Ronnie organized the most beautiful contest I attended. It was at the airport in Hot Springs and there was a balloon festival at the same time. It was remarkable for BBQr’s Delight with a first place in ribs!
Ronnie Cates was big on BIG MONEY contests! His Big Money contests promised a Big reward at the top of the score sheet and always paid deep into the results – usually to 15th place! His contests were well run, fair and fun!
Ronnie was one of just a handful of organizers who were exempt from KCBS 90 day rules. Generally contests couldn’t be sanctioned if there wasn’t 90 days from the application to the date
of the event. Because these super-organizers knew the ins and outs of KCBS events, they could sanction with only a 60 day window.
I spoke to Ronnie before Smoke on the Water at Regional Park, Pine Bluff, AR last year. I told him that I intended SOTW to be my last KCBS contest cooking. Being the communicator, he announced this to all the cook teams at the cooks meeting. Alpha and Omega, first to last with lots of Friends, Fellowship and Fun in BBQ in between.
Rest in peace, Ronnie Cates. You will be greatly missed. Candy Sue Weaver, BBQr’s Delight
Randy and Carol Bigler were always Ronnie’s go-to contest reps. Carol adds to conclude:
Randy and I were very fortunate to meet Dennis and Betty Cates at one of our very first contests. They introduced their son Ronnie to us shortly thereafter and a lifelong friendship was born with the entire family. They were a true BBQ family. Everyone pitched in to do their part to make a successful contest from parking the rigs to selecting the judges, there was a Cates family member in charge. Kirby Ronnie and Eddie would place the teams. Miss Betty and Kim would check in teams and select judges. This entire family put heart and soul into all their contests. They always wanted to make them bigger and better. Ronnie was one of the first to offer big money payouts along with winning cars or trucks.
With Ronnie’s passing, his vision of how a BBQ contest could showcase the world of BBQ comes to an end. We will miss Eddie, Dennis, Betty and now you. Thank you for all the memories.
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