BAH HUMBUG AND BRISKET DO NOT MIX
Restaurant owners paying back previous kindness with holiday toy collection
Shawn Willson is in the food business. (Insert loud sympathetic exhale here.) The food business plus the ongoing pandemic equal hard times, right?
It has been tough for Willson, the owner of Outlaw Smoke BBQ in Fraser.
He’s had a food truck for a couple of years now. This past March (yep, right when COVID-19 was twitching in the starter’s block) he purchased a brick and mortar location at the northeast corner of Masonic and Groesbeck in Fraser.
“A lot of people are struggling now,” Willson said. “I know what it means to struggle.”
Willson has launched a toy drive to ease the struggle for some. All the toys will be given to kids who might not otherwise have something to unwrap on Christmas morning.
People should bring a toy or toys to the Outlaw Smoke BBQ. The goal is to fill the food truck to the brim.
Shawn Willson, his wife, Danielle, and their two teenage boys are brimming with gratitude during this holiday season.
It was 10 years ago or so when the Willson family was the recipient of some holiday kindness.
“We were struggling,” Willson said. “We were living paycheck to paycheck. We were just starting a family. Somebody through Volunteers of America adopted our family for the holidays. They bought gifts for the kids. They delivered groceries. It was a real blessing.”
And it wasn’t forgotten.
“Danielle is looking to see where we should donate the toys that are donated to us this year,” Willson said. “It might be an orphanage. We definitely want to get them to go to kids who otherwise would not have much of a Christmas.”
It might be tough to conjure up much holiday spirit this year. There is a lot on the bah humbug side of the ledger: the ongoing challenges surrounding the results of the presidential election; an entire summer simmering with unrest in the streets of some of our cities; the unrelenting pressure exerted by the coronavirus.
Ho, ho, ho has turned into no, no, no! Too many are out of work. Too many continue to struggle.
That is why people like Shawn Willson of Outlaw Smoke BBQ are such a blessing. He knows what it means to struggle. He knows what it means to succeed. But the main thing is that in his journey from Point A to Point B, he did not forget.
Somebody stepped up when his family needed help. He has never forgotten how that felt.
So why not take a new toy or two over to Outlaw Smoke BBQ? While you are there, maybe order the Notorious P.I.G. which is smoked jalapeno and cheddar sausage, topped with pulled pork, nacho cheese and barbecue sauce. Or how about considering the Texas Platter which is a half pound of brisket, a half pound of pulled pork, white bread, pickled red onions and your choice of a side?
The sides are smoked mac and cheese, pit beans, potato salad and coleslaw.
There are all kinds of things on the menu that look delicious.
Why not have your Christmas dinner catered? Sure Honey Baked is scrumptious, but ham does not have squatter’s rights during the Christmas season. Even in the best of times, the restaurant business is a tough, tough road to hoe.
So bring a couple of toys to Outlaw Smoke BBQ. Order some carryout food, too. That would really show some holiday spirit. The kids will love you for it. So will Shawn Willson and his wife, Danielle.
All Santas do not wear red velvet. Not all rely on reindeer for transportation.
A good truck works just fine, thanks. Especially one chock full of toys.
For more information on Outlaw Smoke BBQ, visit outlawsmokebbq.com.