South Gulf firefighters ready to roast butts

Prepare to enjoy what they say is the best Boston butt you ever tasted.

The South Gulf County volunteer fire department is getting ready for its annual Butt Roast fundraiser, Thursday through Saturday, May 27 to 29.

“We have been told that we serve the best Boston Pork-shoulder butt our customers have ever tasted!” said Patrick Foy, assistant chief. “We limit the total number of Boston butts prepared to only 120 per day.”

He said the butts are picked up each morning from Billy Keegans, manager of the meat department of Duren’s Piggly Wiggly, and delivered to the fire department on Cape San Blas, where they are prepared by volunteers.

“We exclusively use Bad Bryon’s Famous Butt Rub,” Foy said. “Our ‘Butt-Rubbers’ coat each butt and then bag them in coolers on ice overnight to allow the Bad Bryon’s magic to sink-in. “

At 8 a.m. the next day, pit-masters, headed by volunteers like Dave Motil and Gene BeHage, begin six hours of slow-cooking on the department’s famous “Smoker-101.”

After being constantly monitored for that “just-right-temperature,” the butts are pulled from the smoker, wrapped in heavy foil and placed in insulated containers to deep-cook overnight, for pick-up the next day.

Foy said they should feed six to eight. “Save some of the Boston butt and the bone,” Foy said. “Perfect, for your homemade Boston butt bean soup this fall.

Foy urged everyone to order their butts on-line in advance, at sgcfire.com to order by credit card. “You reserve your pick-up date Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Pick-up at Firehouse #1 at 240 Cape San Blas, where you will be directed across the street to Salinas Park,” he said.

Proceeds from the sale support the non-profit department’s water safety and rescue, beach safety flag program and medical first responders, typically first on-scene.

“With many new homes on Cape San Blas, Money Bayou, 30-A and Indian Pass being built higher-up, sometimes three levels up from ground-level, on narrower lots and closer together, the department realizes that in order to protect our homeowner residents and visitors alike, we will need to purchase a new 75-foot ladder-truck apparatus soon,” said John Lounsbury; president of the non-profit SGCVFD, Inc. “We have been closely watching all expenditures and saving funds to contribute to this next all-important purchase by Gulf County. Fundraisers like our butt roast help get us that much closer to this much needed purchase.”