"Laura in Big Red Before Getting Busy Saturday"]

 Football season came to an end Saturday evening at Liberty for Big Red culminating a week of total confusion, frustration and perplexity. LU knocked off Stony Brook in the finale to earn a three way tie atop the Big South Conference. However, the automatic bid from the conference to the FCS playoffs went to Coastal Carolina who upset the Flames a week ago

. Intrestingly, the decision for the automatic bid went to the fourth tie breaker--amount of points allowed in conference games--and Coastal got the nod by four points over Liberty. They scored 45 points against the Flames. One touchdown less and Liberty would have made the playoffs.

The bottom line for Big Red is that despite not getting the extra playoff game we'd hoped for, Liberty rocks. Our business there increased by over 50% this year with one less home game. And, Liberty games now hold 1st, 2nd and 4th in my personal record books for football games. Liberty also continues to be undefeated in the mythical Funnel Cake Bowls against JMU.

Yesterday, now in 4th place in my books, wasn't easy. The kids are mostly gone home for the Thanksgiving holiday. When the gates opened at 1:30, there was nobody there. For an hour and a half, we did almost nothing. And I started to really worry. But when the crowd started rolling in, we got slammed and stayed that way for most of the game.

Tank and Laura were awesome as we were short one person. But we got through it and with reasonable service. Too bad we won't get that extra game.   Oh, well. Maybe next year.

 Basketball thus far is on the opposite end of the spectrum. We had three games at Vines Center this week, 2 women's and one men's, and they were all terrible. While I'm having fun with the crepes, and have been putting out a beautiful product, the volume just isn't there, nor am I drawing enough people to sustain lemonade sales at a rate to make it worthwhile.

So, I'm going to be forced to go back to funnel cakes, and either cook outside using runners to get the product into our stand, or possibly go to a frozen product that we can cook inside in a portable oven that doesn't require an exhaust system. I'll make those decisions before the next home game on Nov. 30.

For now, I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I'll be spending it at Peggy's were we usually cook for like 40 people. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a last minute store to cook funnel cakes on Black Friday since I won't have a playoff football game.

Most of my readers know that I spend a good amount of time on Twitter and Facebook. I use these forums in the social media world for several reasons. Mostly, it gives me the chance to keep family,friends and followers updated on my activities on a more up to date time frame than my usual weekly posting to these pages. It also helps me to promote events that I'm doing and, who knows, someone sometime may just decide to frequent an event just to see me or get a funnel cake.

Usually, my postings fall into the above categories however, on occasion, I may just send  a tweet for purely entertainment value, both for me and/or for my followers. Recently, I tweeted the following: Since I can't figure out how to change the clock in my truck, for 6 months, I'll be 1 hour late for everything. Or will I be 1 hour early?

This, unfortunately, points out several deep dark secrets about me. I have absolutely no mechanical ability. If it needs a screwdriver, a hammer or a saw, I call Peggy. When I get in my truck, actually an Explorer I call Big Mama, I know where the key goes. Beyond that, I'm lost.

The above tweet also points out my IQ is roughly between 47 and minus 132.  The thought of figuring out how to change my stupid clock (I punched every button and knob I could find in my truck) and then to calculate if I was early or late, is frankly, beyond my abilities. But, it got my brain kick started and I could only ask Why? Why do we have to change clocks twice a year? That means the same frustration for me every six months. Thankfully, my phone and computer do it automatically. If only my truck did the same, I'd be OK.

I've heard lots of reasons why there is a Daylight Savings Time and quite frankly, I think it is all a bunch of BULL. It doesn't give the farmers an extra hour in the summer. The sun comes up and goes down the same amount of time whether it starts at 6 AM or 5 AM. How is it possible for a change of clock to increase milk production. Unless Ole Betsy has a Timex, her milk will be the same whether she is milked at 9:30 or 10:30. And, I do not believe it saves any energy costs.  My furnace (or my air conditioner) runs the same amount whether its 4PM or 5PM. If it is 38 degrees, the heat will come on as it will an hour later if the temperature is the same.

My only conclusion is that Daylight Savings Time is a huge government conspiracy equaling if not surpassing Area 51 or the whole little green men from Mars thing. Maybe, someone can tell me why. And, it is not because the Republicans did it!

 NOTE: After reading the 267 page owner's manual written in five languages, I discovered how to change my clock. If only I could remember that for the next six months. . . . .

Vines Center Set Up for Basketball

This week, Friday night saw the first basketball game of the season at Liberty and after a great deal of thought, and bookkeeping, I decided not to do funnel cakes. Because I have to cook outside, and use runners to get the product inside to a stand, unless there is sizable volume, it isn't cost effective. The extra labor causes me to loose money at most games. So, we're trying Crepes instead. That gives me a similar item--I'm only doing dessert type Crepes--plus gives me the chance to put on a little show. And, I don't need an exhaust system which I need to cook funnel cakes or any other item fried inside a building.

The first game went quite well considering many of the folks didn't know I was there or what Crepes were. We'll have to see what happens over time and with both men's and women's games during the week when attendance is lower. I'll probably do those games by myself, saving me any labor cost. [caption id="attachment_622" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Who Needs a Fork?"]

[/caption] Saturday was the final football game at JMU. Chuck, Peggy and I worked it and had a reasonably good day. For November, we did way more lemonade than expected, but funnel cakes and corn dogs were down a bit from the same game last year. Still, a solid effort and another successful year for Dukes football.  Unfortunately, I didn't get basketball there as I'd hoped to do both JMU and Liberty this year. Finally, Big Red is back at the farm for the first time since August.  Due to the construction project at JMU's stadium and a much greater turning radius on Big Mama, it was almost impossible to get Red out after it was in place so I just left it there. The only time I moved it was last weekend when I took it to Richmond for the Craftsmen Classic Show. Now, moving it a second time, I've gotten better at backing her thru a gate with an inch and a half  to spare on each side.  Of course, my nerves will be shot until March, but . . . . This week has two women's basketball games at Liberty and one men's game. Plus, the regular season final football game on Saturday so it should keep me busy all week. Still a chance of a Liberty home playoff game so I'll keep my fingers crossed. So far, I have nothing booked for Thanksgiving week other than cooking for 50 or 60 people at Peggy's. Reports will follow, I'm sure.

[caption id="attachment_615" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Stand in Exhibition Hall for Craftsmen's Classic"] [/caption] At the start of football season, I converted Big Red over to its high volume set up. That means I took the grill out and added a third fryer. The sole reason is that for football games where funnel cakes rule, we needed more fire power to try to hold down the lines.  The third fryer helps to do that and because we have games every weekend throughout the fall, the grill was  just wasted space. That, however, caused a slight problem when Todd and Danny from Americrown confirmed that I was doing the Craftsmen's Classic Arts and Crafts Festival at Richmond Raceway over the weekend. They gave me an inside stand in the Exhibition Hall and asked me to do basically a full menu. But because the grill is out of Big Red, and I still have several more football games, I was met with a challenge and forced to come up with an all fried menu. [caption id="attachment_616" align="alignright" width="300" caption="New Fish Sandwich Platter"] [/caption] So, I added a fish sandwich and a chicken sandwich. Both could be expanded to platters with fries and slaw. Of course, we also did our staples: funnel cakes, corn dogs and our fresh squeezed lemonade. Plus because it was a bit on the cold side, we kept coffee going all of the time. Peggy and Ryan manned the booth inside while Chuck and I did all of the cooking.  As it turned out, I did mostly funnel cakes and Chuck handled the fries, corn dogs and sandwiches. By the way, he did an awesome job and the new items were great. [caption id="attachment_617" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="One of the "Hot" Booths at the Craftsmen's Classic"] [/caption] The Craftsmen's Classic is a huge festival held twice a year at Richmond Raceway Complex and draws 25-35,000 folks at each show.  It is ranked as one of the top ten crafts shows in the country. It was also great to see some old friends like Steve from TJ's Catering that now operates Helmut's Strudel, and John Bell of Fresh Roasted Nuts by GSNC (who I lovingly call Lemonade John). Over the years, we've done a bunch of shows together and I truly count both as good friends. All in all, it was a good show.  Our volume was up from the last time we did this show two years ago and although we could have handled more, it was still a solid effort. The only problem we had was on Sunday morning, Peggy fixed a 40-cup pot of coffee and forgot to put a filter in.  I, of course, drew the first cup. Boy, was that nasty. [caption id="attachment_618" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Perfect Funnel Cake Cooks Merrily Away"] [/caption] Given a little more time, I might also have tried fried oreos and fried twinkies. But, that's for another day and another show. Meanwhile, Tank, Laura and Mark, along with some help from Tank's sister, Kimberly, Jean, who has been on the injured reserve list, and her friend, Gene all pitched in  at Liberty for another football game. While it wasn't another record setter, it was another good effort for the Big Red Crew. Sadly, what we used to consider a great game, as was our volume Saturday, we now consider it a bit disappointing. That's how good the LU games have been this year. But, with the colder weather, our lemonade sales drop considerably and everything depends on how many more funnel cakes and corn dogs we do than in the warmer games. Still, we're having a very good year at Liberty. This week, we have the final JMU football game of the season and basketball starts at Liberty.  While I'm still working out all of the details, we may be changing things up a bit for our indoor program for the winter. More to come on that next week.

[caption id="attachment_610" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Beds for Kids Octoberfest"] [/caption] October ended this weekend and for the Big Red Crew, it was a good thing. Both the weekend and the month were disappointing. I was in Midlothian for the Beds for Kids Octoberfest. It is a new event, not only for us but for the charity too. Peggy got sick and had to cancel out at the last minute which left me working it alone.  That could have been a problem but as it turned out, it was OK. Unfortunately for both the Beds for Kids folks and Big Red, it was a slow day. I usually stay away from festivals and fairs, targeting my marketing at sporting events. But I only had one other event on Saturday and decided it was worth a try. [caption id="attachment_611" align="alignright" width="300" caption="What a Lollipop"] [/caption] And, it was a nice event, well run by some great people and has a nice future. But for the first year, it was a little on the smallish side for Big Red and it's high volume capability. So, I lost my shirt barely covering my gas cost. At the same time, Chuck, Ryan and Carl were working a JMU football game. With the Dukes season tanking, the attendance was way down as was our business. Sales were down over 30% from JMU's average and 40% from the early season high game. Not a bad game, just not what we've come to expect from our football program. [caption id="attachment_612" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Fried Rice Anyone?"] [/caption] The month started off great with two fabulous games at Liberty and our huge weekend at the Modified Races at Martinsville. Then ended with three disappointing weekends covering 2 JMU games, Bridge Day, the Cup Races at Martinsville and this weekend. Actually, for the month, sales were up 35% from last year. But with the way the month started, I was looking for a 50-60% increase. This week, I hope to have two events.  We'll be back at Liberty for a game on Saturday manned by Tank, Laura, Mark and Jean (coming back from her stint on the injured reserve list). Peggy, Chuck, Ryan and I will be in Richmond for the Craftsmen Classic Show, I hope.  It's pencilled in on my calandar, but not confirmed yet. And it is going to take some major maneuvering of equipment and assets to pull it off. Should be a very interesting week.