Letters to the editor

Honor those who died by flying a flag

Memorial Day is to honor those who served and protected our country by being our warriors. They died so that we can have the freedom to do what I am going to complain about. On Monday, I returned home to find that out of 43 houses on my street only two bothered to put up U.S. flags to honor the dead. I fly my flag, day and night EVERY day, so only one other person even bothered to put up a flag.

Come on folks, men and women since the 1700s have died for our freedom. Your freedom does mean the right to ignore Memorial Day. My freedom says, please, respect the dead. Next year if you can’t afford to buy a flag, let me know: I’ll buy it for you!

Gary Berger

Barbecue challenge ‘vendors’ underwhelm

I am a Boulder City resident who has attended the Best Dam Barbecue Challenge in each year of its existence. This event has changed from its inception when attendees could buy or get free samples of barbecue directly from competitors to a period when attendees could buy samples of competitor barbecue from the Rotary Club, to the present when attendees could purchase barbecue from two “selected barbecue vendors” (12th Annual Best Dam Barbecue Challenge official program, page 2) who were not competitors in this event.

Unfortunately, the barbecue available from these two vendors does not begin to approach the quality of the barbecue featured in the competition.

At the 2016 event I stood in line to purchase a barbecue platter that was advertised to contain beef brisket, pulled pork and chicken. The beef was not brisket; it looked and tasted like sliced roast beef that had been cooked well in advance. The pulled pork portion amounted to barely more than a bite, and the chicken was baked — not barbecued. All of this was “camouflaged” with a liberal dousing of barbecue sauce intended to cover the shortcomings of the meats.

Needless to say, it was very disappointing not to have been able to enjoy authentic barbecue of the quality that is produced for the competition. While I understand the issues with competitors giving away or selling their barbecue, I also contend that the allure of experiencing authentic barbecue is the main attraction of this event for most who attend.

If future Best Dam Barbecue Challenges will continue to enlist “selected barbecue vendors” who are not competitors, is it possible to attract vendors of higher quality so that the barbecue available for purchase is authentic and approaches the quality of that featured in the competition?

Molly Weaver