Farewell to Friends

On July 13, 2001 Billy "Belly" Maynard passed away. Billy was a friend and advisor to many but he was like a father to me. We had cooked together for many years, winning several trophies. Although we were not as active since Suzy's death in October 1999, we were beginning to get back in the groove when Billy became ill.

We spent many hours together perfecting our cooking. He and Suzy made Glen Rose my "home" and they quickly became my family. I miss them both very much.

Billy always ended emails to me with:

"time to come home .........Dad"

Beginning in 2002 the CedarBreakBBQCompany cookoff team will be back on the LSBS cookoff circuit in Billy's memory.

Billy & Suzy Maynard with Jack Hunter at Mexia, TX 1999

have visited this site

Billy often offered his wisdom (and humor) with the BBQ email list. The following is from one of his emails.

Do you every ask yourself,WHY?????????

Why do we spend all this time, money to fix a cut of meat, so that our wifes,kids and friends will think, they died and gone to heaven when they eat it, WHY???

WHY that all I want to know, is it because we of little mind, that we go out in heat, rain why some in snow, ice or more and that just to built a fire in a hole in the ground, pit or smoker, then it the time it take to fix the meat, just to get it ready to cook, after you make two trips to town to get the just right cut of meat, then you got to trin, soak, rub and make love to it, just to get it ready for the pit, then you got to make up your mind, which pit to use,then what kind of wood, now you got to do all this before you can start cooking your meat, So WHY, do we do all this, is it for love????? or is it to do something better than the other guy?????? WHY, still we not got the meat on the pit yet, well after two long hours in the early hours beforw daylite, we now have the fire ready, it holding 220 good, But wait, didn't Danny, Belly or Dan or someone on the list said get your heat up to 250 or was it 300, oh Why???? do I do all this????

Well now the heat up to 250, so on go the meat, do I mop it or leave it alone??? OH WHY??? Oh, now I remember, someone said to leave the meat alone for first few hours, but Jeff said to mop it each hour, But Rock said, leave it alone, WHY??? Now I know Big Jim said, leave it naker, but I done got it rubed,but now the heat going down, must add more heat, OH WHY, do I do this, so early in the morning, is for love or just because I love to smell the smoke??

WHY, you know if I had used my Big Jim Lazy Q', I could have just lit the gas and went back to bed, But here I sat at this damm coumper at six o'clock in the morning, as the smell of my pork butt being make love too by my pecan wood fire, now I know Why, It the smell of wood smoke in the air as day lite is coming up on us, it the love of man kind, that we of the que world do this so that all in ours towns know that there still someone WHO still will get up and built a wood fire hours before daylite just so they may smell the wood smoke, for they may never get to taste your que, But they do get to share in the smell of the wood smoke as it carry alone over the trees, hills by the currents of winds, telling all, Why.

Yes it that bbq guy down the road who up before dawn, just to make us so hunger for just a taste of bbq. Why every dog in town, will be set at your gate before daylite, or is deep down we hope that someone new will smell the smoke and that they will become the next pitmaster of your world.
Maybe that WHY????

Got to go check my fire, That for sure...God I love to smell the smoke before daylite.......

Bellyyyyyyyyyy