By Chef Mick Brown
Courtesy of http://www.bbqrescues.com
A little over a year ago a friend contacted me about this event I had never heard of. Called National Night Out, she wanted to know if I could contribute some food. What’s it all about? Since 1984, the National Association of Town Watch (NATW) has sponsored gatherings in over 16, 000 neighborhoods around the country. Along with community outreach with info about crime prevention, safety tips and helpful community programs, the gatherings usually include some sort of Cookout. In most cases, that means BBQ! With over 38 Million Members, the NATW also sponsors a national Dog Walkers Watch program to train the to make our neigh’s even safer.
They also include a Memorial for Police Officers who were lost in the line of duty and donations to local Charities. More than ever, it is an important time to Communities to come together with the dedicated members of Law Enforcement who provide invaluable service for all of us every day. Based on recent events, a couple of Bad Eggs may have to be cracked (on both sides of the law). However, the vast majority of U.S. Citizens and Officers alike are out to do the right thing. We are all much stronger together, than to leave the streets in the hands of Outlaws. [With that said, I can put aside the Soapbox and we can get to the Food].
Last year I participated in the festival at The Greek Theatre in Griffith Park (Los Angeles). In between doling out slices of Smoked BBQ Pizzas from Cheech’s and samples of HEROIC! Rub, I also took the opportunity to launch my new project called BBQ RESCUES! At the time, I had been recently crowned Grill Master Champion on Food Network show Cutthroat Kitchen. It was fun to do interviews with several Police Reps, Community Volunteers and discovering this great A Cappella band called Jondo.
This past May, I was honored to cater the 120th Anniversary Cookout for about 500 Officers and Staff of the Santa Monica Police Department. The event went great for the Tastee BQ Grilling Company. We were pleased to use HEROIC! Rub to grill some of our best Hot Links, Burgers and Smoked Chicken ever. Special Thanks to Kingsford Charcoal and Pit Barrel Cookers for contributing extra supplies for the event. Dunkin Donuts were also supplied the Police event with most of the most impressive Donut Stands we have ever seen. Also Thanks to the SMPD for providing photos and Ciao Bella for extra staffing help.
I plan to release a Kingsford sponsored video for the Perfect Burger sometime before now and Labor Day. In the meantime, you can get mood for this years event by listening to last years podcast “National Night Out at the Greek (Parts 1 & 2)” with slideshows on the BBQ RESCUES! Blog Talk Radio website or download them on iTunes. There are also links to find the National Night Out event in your area. Finally, I couldn’t resist adding a couple of my favorite Youtube Videos of Policemen around the country dancing at recent BBQs. Enjoy. Until next time, Eat and Be Well.
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Mick Brown is a Food Blogger/Purveyor based in Los Angeles, with over 30 years BBQ and Grilling experience. Aside from Caterer and Private Grilling Instructor, his passions are creating Easy Grilling Recipes and searching for the World’s Best Flavors. General Manager of Tastee BQ Grilling Co. and the new California Gold BBQ Rubs. In May of 2015, he won Grill Master Champion on Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen on special BBQ episode “Grill or Be Grilled” (Season 8, Episode 3). He also recently appeared on Bravo TV, catering for the Cast of Vanderpump Rules (Season Finale). He is also author of web blogs The Adventures of Tastee BQ and BBQ Catering Confidential. His newest project BBQ RESCUES!, includes a Blog Talk Radio Show, Youtube TV Channel and Podcasts on iTunes. Email- Mick@TasteeBQ.com
National Night Out events in the San Fernando Valley for Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016
National Night Out: A time for barbecue, K-9s and tough conversations
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/police-724295-national-night.html
Recent violence brings special signficance to National Night Out-USA Today
National Night Out 2016 – Los Angeles Unified School District
City of West Hollywood : National Night Out
http://www.weho.org/services/public-safety/national-night-out
Los Angeles Local Events (LAPD)
2016 National Night Out, August 2 – Local Events – Los Angeles Police ..
Santa Monica Police Dept. National Night Out
National Night Out 2016 | Santa Monica
http://www.santamonica.com/event/national-night-out-2016/
National Night Out- Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/nationalnightout/
BBQ RESCUES- Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BBQRescues/
Police officer dancing at Black Lives Matter cookout goes viral
Breakdancing Cop Busts a Move
BBQ RESCUES at The Greek Theatre
website- https://bbqrescues.com/tag/greek-theatre/
Blog Talk Radio (Slideshows)
BBQ RESCUES! on iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bbq-rescues!/id1030435189?mt=2
Companies
Kingsford Charcoal https://www.kingsford.com/
Pit Barrel cookers http://www.pitbarrelcooker.com
http://www.ciaobellastaffing.com/
Tastee BQ Grilling Co. http://tasteebqgrilling.com/
Ciao Bello Staffing https://www.punchbowl.com/vendors/ca-california/santa-monica/c-staffing
Dunkin Donuts https://www.dunkindonuts.com/dunkindonuts/en.html
Pink’s Hot Dogs http://www.pinkshollywood.com/
Cheech’s Pizza http://cheechspizzala.com/
HEROIC! BBQ Rub http://www.californiagoldrub.com/