2012 GOBS Wine Tour

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Transportation:  Arrow Bus Charter –   Cost is $40 per person.  The price includes transportation, all wine tastings at three wineries (18 different wines) and a guided tour of the Danish Countryside vineyard.  

For reservations please contact Jim Carter by phone at home, 402-291-1012; cell, 402-216-7077; work, 402-292-8660 ext 214; or email at jcarter@sessolutions.com .  Send advance payment by check made out to “GOBS” to:  Jim Carter, 3207 Redwing Drive, Bellevue NE 68123. Tour:  

The Wine Tour will include three premium Iowa wineries:

• Loess Hills Vineyard and Winery, Crescent, IA
• Danish Countryside Vines and Wines, Exira, IA 
• Prairie Crossing Vineyard & Winery, Treynor, IA

Itinerary:  Sun. 9-16-12   Depart 11:00 am from Farmhouse Café, 3461 So. 84^th St, The Manager of the Farmhouse Café  has given GOBS  “Wine Tour” participants permission to leave their vehicles on the west side of the Farmhouse Café parking lot during the day of the wine Tour.  We encourage you to arrive earlier on Sunday morning and have breakfast at the Farmhouse before the wine tour!

We will depart promptly at 11:00 a.m. !!!!!   Please, don’t be late!

Loess Hills Vineyard & Winery,  1120 Old Lincoln Highway, Crescent, IA 51526, #712-545-3054 http://loesshillsvineyardandwinery.com/. Arrive about 11:30 a.m. to begin our wine tasting experience.  Loess Hills has wines to suit every taste from dry reds to fruity dessert wines.  Bottles are available for purchase.   Depart 12:30 p.m. for Danish Countryside 2 miles west of Elk Horn, IA Note: The ride to Danish Countryside will take approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, and there is no planned stop for lunch.  You are welcomed to bring personal coolers with food and beverages of your choice for lunch on the bus en route.  Get creative!  Bring some food your willing to share with your fellow passengers.

Danish Countryside Vines & Wines, 1425 Littlefield Drive, Exira, IA 50076, #1-712-764-2991, www.danishcountrysidevinesandwines.com  .  Arrive at vineyard about 1:45 p.m. after passing through the quaint Danish Community of Elk Horn IA, , We will spend extra time at this winery to properly experience the award winning wines, a fabulous gift shop, and a guided tour of the vineyard.   Bottles and wine related gifts are available for purchase.  Depart 3:00 p.m. for Prairie Crossing near Treynor, IA.

Prairie Crossing Vineyard & Winery– 31506 Pioneer Trail, Treynor, IA 51575 #712-487-3812, http://prairiecrossingwine.com/ .  Arrive about 4:15 p.m.    Prairie Crossing is another rural winery with a modern tasting room and plenty of great wines. Wine tasting is $3.00 and bottles are available for purchase  Depart Prairie Crossing by 5:15 p.m. to return to the Farmhouse Café in Omaha at approximately 6:00 p.m.

This is great way to spend a summer afternoon, traveling in chauffeured air-conditioned comfort, touring the Iowa countryside, and enjoying award winning Iowa wines!  Come join the fun!  

The Okoboji Tourism Committee is hosting Smoke One The Water BBQ Competition on June 22-23 on Preservation Plaza along the shores of West Lake Okoboji in Arnolds Park. Smoke one the Water is a competition set up the same as a KCBS event. Although the event is not sanctioned, all judges have gone through the KCBS judging course and are certified. there will be over $6000 in prize money along with trophies and ribbons.

For more information on this event please contact Stacy Rosemore at 712-332-2209 or click on the following link: www.vacationokoboji.com.

GOBS Members,

At the June 12, 2012 member meeting at the Gretna KOA, we will vote on proposed updates to the GOBS By-Laws. The By-Laws were last updated in January 2005 so these proposed changes are much needed to bring things up-to-date with changes that have taken place in the last seven (7) years.

Click here for a copy of the proposed changes to the By-Laws with the changes highlighted in blue text.

Click here to see the specific articles that are proposed for a change/update.  This link shows both the current By-Laws and the proposed wording for the change, once again the changes are highlighted in blue text. This second link is provided to make it easier to see how the articles are proposed to change.

As members, you are allowed to vote on these changes but in order to cast your vote you must be present at the meeting on June 12, 2012. No one is allowed to vote by proxy and this is not a special situation that requires absentee ballots. On June 2, 2012 the members that are present at the member meeting will vote on these proposed changes/updates and the new By-Laws will go into effect immediately thereafter.

If for some reason you are unable to open these links please let a Board Member know immediately.

Thank you and please take the time to read through these proposed changes to the By-Laws. We hope to see many of you at the member meeting on June 12, 2012.

Sincerely,

Darrin Branson

Membership Chair

GOBS By-Laws Draft Version – June 2012

Proposed GOBS By-Laws Changes – Comparison

The “Original” State Championship of Nebraska

The Station House at Sokol Park

La Platte, NE (5 miles South of Bellevue, NE) on Hwy 75

August 17 & 18, 2012

The Greater Omaha Barbeque Society (GOBS) is proud to be able to host The 20th Annual Original State Barbeque Championship of Nebraska – best BBQ contest in the Midwest. This contest began in 1992 in a small corner of the AK-SAR-BEN complex in Omaha with a dozen or so contestants. During the years, this contest has grown to nearly seventy contestants and has offered over $8,000 in prize money, plus trophies, ribbons, and prizes. Contestants come from all of the Midwest states and beyond to compete in Nebraska’s largest and best BBQ contest. We’re also proud to enjoy the Governor’s Proclamation that our contest is designated as the “official” Nebraska State contest and continues to operate under the auspices and authority of the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS).

To those of you who are new to competitive BBQ, well, it’s not “grilling”. Grilling is cooking over direct heat. Barbequing is slow cooking over indirect heat, which primarily comes from charcoal and hard woods. No gas is allowed. Cooking temperatures are generally kept between 200 and 250 degrees and times will vary from several hours to as many as 20 hours depending upon the type and size of meat. Although you can cook a steak in 16 minutes, a beautifully slow smoked brisket is pure joy.

Contestants will check in on Friday to begin preparing CHICKEN, PORK RIBS, PORK SHOULDER or BUTT, BRISKET, and a 5th category of “Smoked Sausage” for judging on Saturday. In addition to the meat categories, the contest features a NEBRASKA DRY BEANS Contest, SIDE DISH Contest, a DESSERT Contest, a SAUCE Contest, a “BEST HOSPITALITY TEAM” Contest, a “PEOPLES CHOICE Contest” & KIDS Q Contest, and special awards for Beef entries, Pork entries, the Best of Nebraska and Bean entries. The meat entries will be judged on appearance, tenderness, and taste by experienced and trained judges. Sides and Desserts are judged on appearance, taste and originality. The sauce contest is judged on taste only.

We invite you to mingle amongst the aroma of hickory, oak, apple and other hardwoods and visit with the many people – especially the contestants – who make this event a success. Many of the best BBQ Cooking Teams in the Midwest display their skills in this contest. Stop and visit – we guarantee that you’ll pick up a tip or two.

Entry Form – click here

Greetings GOBS Members,

This is just a quick note from the Membership Chair to remind everyone that the renewal notices for 2012 were mailed before February 1st this year.  We have received a good response so far with many of our members renewing and paying their pro-rated dues for 2012.  There are still a lot of you that have not sent me your renewal dues yet this year which is why I’m sending this reminder.

For you cook teams out there that want to participate in the 2012 Heartland Challenge, you must be GOBS members before your points will start being counted.  The first contest that you can earn points in is North Platte on May 4th and 5th.  That date is coming up fast so please get your membership dues in by April 15th so that we are sure you are good to go for the Heartland Challenge.  If your team is not starting the season with North Platte, please get me your membership dues at least 2 weeks before your first contest in the challenge.

For the “regular” GOBS folks, we really want to keep you all as members and we are really working hard to improve GOBS and ensure you get to enjoy the benefits of continued membership.  Renewing your membership gives you the exclusive benefits of being able to attend our monthly dinner meetings, go to our Summer Storm Chasers outing at Werner Park in July, and go on the annual wine tour in the early fall. People that are not members of GOBS must be sponsored by an active member in order to attend these events.  Additionally, members get reduced prices at our dinners (guests pay $2 more per person) and the Storm Chasers outing (guests pay $6 more per person).

I request that you send me your pro-rated 2012 membership renewal dues no later than May 1, 2012 so that we can continue to keep our membership accounting processes up-to-date.  Memberships that are not renewed by May 1st will be placed in a “Delinquent” status. “Delinquent” members will not be able to enjoy GOBS membership benefits until they are able to renew for 2012.  Please understand that I am not cancelling anyone’s membership, instead I am trying to keep track of things more effectively and ensure that our members that have already renewed for 2012 can continue to enjoy their membership benefits.  Please send me your renewals right away so that you too will be able to enjoy the benefits of being a GOBS member.

If you have any questions or you lost your 2012 renewal letter, please contact me at darlinbran@hotmail.com.  Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Darrin Branson

Membership Chair

2012 Heartland BBQ Challenge

1. May 4 & 5 North Platte Honky Tonk Barbecue Festival North Platte NE (KCBS)
2. May 11 & 12  BBQ in the Bluffs in Council Bluffs, IA (KCBS)
3. June 1 & 2 Valley Veteran’s BBQ Contest Valley, NE (GOBS Sanctioned)
4. July 20 & 21 Riverfest 2012 Red White and Que, Bellevue, NE (KCBS)
5. July 27 & 28 Westfair “I Got Smoked at Westfair” contest in Council Bluffs (KCBS)
6. Aug 10 & 11 Cass County “Cookin at the Fair” Weeping Water NE (KCBS)
7. Aug 17 & 18 20^th Nebraska State BBQ Championship, LaPlatte, NE (KCBS)
8. Sept 1 & 2 Septemberfest BBQ & Ribeye Steak Cook-off Challenge, Omaha, NE  (KCBS)
9. Sept 7 & 8 Ribs, Rods and Rock n Roll, Vermillion, SD (KCBS)

For more information about this challenge click on the link under the Members Only heading of this web site.

A note from the GOBS Membership Chair:

Happy Holidays to all of our great GOBS members!  I wanted to take a moment to let you know of some changes in the coming year for how we do the GOBS membership.  Effective in 2012 GOBS will send membership renewal notices out once per year instead of each month.  Renewal notices will be mailed by February 1, 2012 for all members and will continue to be done annually until further notice.  For members that have renewed less than a year ago, your membership rate for 2012 will be pro-rated.

Here is an example of how this will work:  if you renewed in June 2011 you will have only used 8 months of your current membership.  Based on this GOBS will apply your remaining 4 months of 2011 membership toward renewal and you will only be billed for 8 months in 2012.  In this example your 2012 dues will equal $20 instead of the usual $30.  We are making this change in order to stream-line the process and make it easier to account for all of our members early in the year before the start of the competition season.  Take care everyone and if you have any questions about this change please send them to me at darlinbran@hotmail.com.  Thanks and good eating!

Sincerely,

Darrin Branson

GOBS Board Member and Membership Chair.

At the December Dinner Meeting GOBS members were asked to bring in donations for the Food Bank of the Heartland. The following link are the letters of thanks for our contribution. The GOBS Board would also like to thank all those that participated.

2011 GOBS Food Bank Donations

Got a new cell phone number?

or email address?

Keep your contact information current and don’t miss any GOBS events. Send your new contact information to President, Nena Cooney at nena.cooney@gmail.com or Membership Board Member, Darrin Branson at darlinbran@hotmail.com.