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A fun day -- geek shopping spree and BBQ

There were a good 300-400 people at the event. Gorgeous weather with temps in the 60's and clear skies with puffball clouds. Took a few photos:
The entrance to the event -- held at the local High School.


Some gorgeous pieces of vintage equipment from Radio's beginnings.


Some non-Radio stuff - a Van de Graaf Generator
and an old Wire Recorder in the foreground.
Wire recorders pre-dated Tape recorders by twenty years.


Microphones, we got microphones...


I came, I saw, I got the Tee Shirt


The town of Stanwood has a modern commercial core but
I like the original main-street the best.
A nice architectural ornament on the old Bank building -- now, private offices.


The old town tavern and hotel. Since I was so close (30 miles) I ran down to Harbor Freight and picked up a set of metal punches that will be handy. On the trip back, I stopped at the wonderful BBQ place that I visited a couple weeks ago on the blacksmithing conference in Mt. Vernon. Got a tub of Pork and a tub of Beef with a bunch of sides so we have dinner for a couple of nights... One thing that I didn't realize until today -- I knew they were Christian from the background music and the quote from Matthew 25:35 on the back of their business cards. They were busy today so I had the chance to read some of the newspaper articles framed on their walls. The owners are using the proceeds of the restaurant to give the homeless and hungry people of Skagit County free meals on the last five days of the month (people's resources run pretty thin by then). They have won a Humanitarian award for their work in the community. The Skagit Valley Herald had this story:

Tough times mean longer lines at Reverie BBQ
A few months ago, Jamayshaw Merculief had a steady office job and a roof over her head. Now she spends her days homeless, without a job and with kids to feed.

Merculief, 21, of Mount Vernon, said she made good money, and budgeted her finances well, but her rent spiked from $800 to $1,100 in one month.

She had enough money to get by, but not with an additional $300 on her rent. With kids and no roof over their head, she had to quit her job and start looking into alternatives.

But she�s not without a few resources. At the end of every month she joins hundreds of others at the Reverie BBQ on South Second Street in Mount Vernon for a free hot meal among friends.

The restaurant, run by Matt and Cheryl Kaufman, welcomes more and more people like Merculief lining up at its door. The couple operates the restaurant so they can offer a free hot meal each night for the last five days of the month.

When the Kaufmans started the program three years ago, they would feed 170 people in a week. But in the last three months they�ve watched the lines grow longer. Monday night alone they fed 270, and as of Thursday afternoon they expected to reach 1,000 for the month.

Matt and Cheryl Kaufman are walking the walk. Good people (and awesome 'Q') Posted by DaveH at May 8, 2010 5:40 PM