Although I never got to know Gary Wells other than a few casual meetings, I have been greatly influenced by his vision and plans for the Kansas City Barbeque Society through my many friends who loved him. It has always occured to me that had it not been for Gary and his vision of a barbeque society many years ago, I would not know most, if not all, of the wonderful people with whom I have had the honor of becoming friends. Think about that for a second and imagine not knowing any of the friends you have in barbeque. Life would be a lot less bright without some of the people we know and love. Now imagine all of the thousands of members of KCBS. To have one man so responsible for all of those countless friendships is amazing! A story was related to me and it was told that Gary once was needing to go in and have a pretty important medical procedure performed. His doctor scheduled it at American Royal time. Even though it was important, Gary refused and told his doctor he would just have to re-schedule for another time. The doctor stressed how important this was and Gary held his ground. He refused to be laid up in recovery when he had "forty thousand of his closest friends coming to town for the American Royal"! That's how Gary felt about us as a barbeque family.
What have I learned from learning about Gary Wells? To quote a dear friend who was as close to Gary as anyone, "It was always supposed to be about having fun and making friends." What a great philosophy! Why do most of us enjoy barbeque so much? Because we're out there with our friends having fun. The calls to the stage and wins are secondary. I have to be honest... I, along with most people out here, am very competitive come crunch time on Saturday morning and want those calls during the awards. But even during turn-ins, I often try to have fun and laugh and joke with nearby neighbors.
Yes, this is an organization experiencing enormous growth and yes, it is business-like out of necessity these days. But we cannot forget where we came from. We cannot forget that originally, a team could get DQ'ed for not having fun! We always have to make as much room at competitions for the guy coming in with a few backyard cookers and a tent as we do for the huge rigs that roll in with cooks who travel the country cooking barbeque and promoting a new book, a barbeque class or rubs and sauces. We cannot forget that above all, it's about having fun and making great friends!
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