The neighbours on one side are grilling steak, across the back fence the aroma of bratwurst sausages is wafting on the wind and the neighbours on the other side are digging into pulled pork that spent the better part of the afternoon slow cooking over charcoal.
The neighbourhood seems to have its own mini version of the Bull's-Eye Canadian National BBQ Championships.
The big event is set for this long weekend at Dusty's and Bob Haselbach will be there with an eye on an even bigger barbecue competition this fall in Lynchburg, TN, at the Jack Daniels distillery.
BBQ Bob, as most people know him, was last at the biggest barbecue competition in the world six years ago. In his quest to get there he conquered Nanaimo.
His chicken won first place honours at a barbecue competition in the central Vancouver Island town while his sauce was voted best and he finished second overall at the festival of food the weekend of July 14 and 15.
He's scheduled to compete in a few more events this summer to warm up for the beg event in October.
"I went to Lynchburg in 2005 and then put my own team together and went back in 2006," says Bob in a recent interview. "I'm in the lottery."
He and his team, the Eh Team, have two potential avenues to get to the World Invitational Championships. Bob can win his way there by taking top honours at a qualifying event or make it through the back door by being drawn from the event's lottery system.
No matter what happens with the big international event in October, he and all the other competitors registered for the National BBQ Championships in Whistler have to cook their way through the event at Creekside Aug. 3 to 5.
"The BBQ Championships is a must-experience event for meat lovers," says Joshua Kearns, the manager at Dusty's Bar and BBQ. "With great music, a mechanical bull riding activity and mouthwatering food and drink, it's a great way to spend the B.C. Day long weekend."
The weekend will be a three-day barbecue lover's dream-come-true.
It kicks off with BBQ Judging Class. This is a free class that starts at 4 p.m. and features a lesson on how to judge the food that will be served over the weekend. Pre-registration is required to get into the class, which will be taught by Pacific Northwest BBQ Association judges.
Saturday is Local's Day with $2,000 in prizing up for grabs amongst the amateurs. A burger competition kicks off the day. The winning burger will be featured at Dusty's for the year ahead. There's also a meat and vegetable competition, a chili event and a barbecue dinner featuring hog, baked beans, tossed greens and buns.
Sunday is the main event. Five categories will be contested: pork butt, pork, beef brisket, chicken and ribs.
Sunday is the day the big guns compete for the title of Canadian Champion — which is currently held by Wine Country Q — and $5,000 in cash.
Anyone can taste the final product by purchasing a token for a barbecue food sampler. The tokens are only a dollar. The same one-dollar tokens can also be used to participate in the activities planned for the weekend, including rides on the mechanical bull.
The pork butt judging will start the day off on Sunday at 11 a.m. and judging for each category after that continues through to the rib judging at 2 p.m. At 4:30 the awards ceremony will start and the judges will announce the winners of the competition then hand out the cash prizes.
Through it all, to go with the great food there will also be music. The list of performers for the weekend includes Whole Lotta Led on Friday, Ruckus Deluxe on Saturday then The Matinée will perform in the evening. A tribute to Elvis will wrap things up Sunday evening courtesy of Darren Lee and the Memphis Flash.
Barbecue aromas will cover Creekside all weekend and make the neighbourhood an irresistible attraction for lovers of the grill.
