The western-style “steer burgers” will be sold at 25 cents each by service clubs and associations on behalf of the Retarded Children. There will be no charge to view the proceedings, including the five barbecue pits, each three and a half feet wide by three and a half feet deep and 14 feet long. Also there will be two orchestras- one for general dancing and another for country dancing- fireworks, movies and western hats. Even the Boy Scouts and Cubs will benefit by selling special packs containing a towel to wash face and hands on the spot without the necessity of soap and water.
In all, everything adds up to good food, good company, a highly enjoyable time, a most unusual event and a big boost for a worthy cause. Everybody is welcome. Remember it all starts at 8:30 p.m., tonight, Thursday.”
Bob Yott owned a hardware store at the eastern end of Applewood Shopping Centre. It was one of those old-fashioned hardware stores where just about one of everything could be found. Snow can be seen in the little parkette between the shopping centre and MacIntosh Crescent where the BBQ took place. Photo courtesy of the Shipp Corporation.
Preparation for the barbecuing started well in advance. The cords of hardwood were lit at midnight. Each pit was started one-half hour apart. Between six to seven hours later, the glowing charcoal from the hardwood was covered over by sand. The meat, in chunks of 15 to 25 pounds and boned out, were rubbed with salt and pepper, covered with cheese-cloth, then overlaid with a paste of flour and water, and finally encased in clean burlap. They were then cooked for about 12 hours. Mr. Chisholm, executive secretary of the Western Stock Growers’ Association at Calgary, who was imported to supervise the preparations, said the one big problem with these old-fashioned ovens is that once the meat is placed in the pits, there is no control over it. The meat can come out not done well enough or over done. “That’s the trouble with these old fashioned ovens, there are no timers on them,” he quipped.
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