Someone asked me when my interest in cooking began. As I think back and ponder the question, I think I can attribute much of my early interest in my time spent with the Boy Scouts. The troop that I was a member of was a very loose-run operation. The leaders let the scouts handle much of the planning for our weekend camping excursions. Individual patrols, lead by a patrol leader, (an older scout), would be in charge of planning the menu and assuring that the groceries were purchased for the trip. As you can imagine, there was many meals of hot dogs, cold cereal and Dinty Moore beef stew. If the patrol did not plan a meal or forgot to go to the store, they usually went hungry. In today’s politically correct and litigation crazy world that we live in, our troop could not exist. If you ask me, that is a shame, because it was a great climate for which to learn. Believe me, you did not forget a meal very often. If you did, you took what you had and made something. Today, the parents would complain to Boy Scout Headquarters and probably file a huge lawsuit. The troop leaders would be charged with child abuse for letting a child go hungry. It would be on the evening news. A shame. I recall having a can of Dinty Moore for the umpteenth meal and looking over at the Senior Patrol. This was the group of the most senior scouts in the troop. They would be dining on hamburgers, corn on the cob, and campfire baked apples. I said right then, there must be a better way, and my interest in cooking was born. I think this experience also helped with my organizational skills. When the time arrived that I became a patrol leader, I plotted out menus and made sure the items were purchased so that we would not end up eating from a can. It was a great learning experience. During my lifetime I have a great deal of experience in organization. I have organized hunting clubs, community fundraisers, and recreational sports leagues. I have also spent many years as a community and school volunteer. Much of my recent interest in cooking and BBQ is chronicled in the pages of my blog. I am a beginning BBQ cook and do not profess to be an expert. I am new to the KCBS circuit and am only telling the story of my limited experience on the BBQ trail. I have cooked and eaten a lot of good and bad food over the years, and believe me, I can still screw up a meal with the best of them. I am like the character in the Rodney Dangerfield movie “Easy Money,” just a regular guy. A regular guy who likes to cook; unfortunately for my waistline, I also like to eat. My interest in competition BBQ goes back to 2004 when I entered my first contest. It was called The Tailgate Challenge and involved cooking one rack of baby back ribs. I won a ribbon for 5th place and was hooked. Over the next several years I learned what I could about BBQ. I was lucky enough to meet a guy that became a good friend and my BBQ mentor. He invited me to cook with him at several contests where I attempted to learn as much as I could about competition BBQ. In 2007 I started my own team and with the help of my teammates competed in four contests. During that year, we met a lot of great folks and continued to sharpen our cooking methods. We were lucky enough to get a few calls to the stage during our first season and for that, we are thankful. The team is looking forward to our future seasons on the BBQ trail together, as we improve our skills and efficiency with the goal of improving our overall scores and finishes. Currently, I write monthly columns in the KCBS Bullsheet and The National Barbeque News. I also write a product review column in the new on-line magazine entitled Smoke Signals. You can follow our team on our website www.watgbbq.com or my blog www.thenewguys.blogspot.com. If you have any questions or comments, I can be reached at ghensler@aol.com. George Hensler is from Street, Maryland.