The Comeback of the Summer!

The summer of 2013 could very well be called "The summer of the comeback", especially around Kansas City. The Royals have come back from a miserable June to play meaningful games in August. Signs like the one pictured below are popping up all over town to advertise the return of Twinkies. But both of these stories pale in comparison to the comeback story of the summer.

Billboard for Twinkies' comeback

Just over a week ago, the four-plex that a local food truck owner (Michael Bradbury) and his family were living in burned to the ground. The fire started in the unit above his, but between the fire and the subsequent putting out of the fire (using thousands of gallons of water), Bradbury and his family lost everything that they had. That includes the keys to his food truck. To a small business owner, losing they keys to your business (and your income) would be like taking away Carlos Santana's guitar (only without the safety net of having already sold millions of records).

Bradbury Fire

Michael owns and operates The Funnel Cake Truck. As the name implies, he serves funnel cakes (with batter made from a secret family recipe) as well as anything that can be dipped in his funnel cake batter and deep fried (such as: Oreos, Rice Crispy Treats, Corn Dogs, and Twinkies). Much like the plight of the Twinkies that he deep fries, people have recently taken Michael and his funnel cakes for granted (myself included). It was as if they (he and Twinkies) would always be around, always be there for you to buy NEXT time, until one day you found out that they may not. When Twinkies' future was in peril, buyers came out of the woodwork to ensure that Twinkies would be around for generations to come. That same thing happened for Michael and his family this evening.

Partial shot of the crowd that showed up

In less than a week, area food trucks put together a rally for their brother. They got: a venue, a gang of trucks ready to donate their profits to the Bradbury family (they actually had so many that they had to start turning trucks down), started a facebook event, and invited almost every news station in town to cover the story. An incomplete list of trucks (and mobile food vendors) that helped out in some way: Wilma's Real Good Food, Beaty of the Bistro, Indios Carbonsitos, Smokin' Fresh Streetside BBQ, Crave of KC Food Truck, Monk's Roast Beef, Prairie Fire Oven, Jazzy B's, CoffeeCake KC, KC BBQ Truck, Brock Hops, Coach's Kettle Corn, and Chef Baldee's Pizza.

No amount of money can ever take away the helplessness that you feel when you lose everything (something that most of us cannot even fathom), but with the help of some close friends (and hundreds of complete strangers) hopefully Michael can now start to get back on his feet! I hope to be seeing him on the streets for years to come!

The Guest of Honor getting interviewed

This event (and post) were all about one man (and his family, of course), but I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't include photos of some of the awesome things that trucks brought out tonight.

Boulevard Terra Incognita/Sasparilla Pork Slider
(from Wilma's)

Boom Boom Burger (from Beauty of the Bistro)

Mango Lemonade (from Coach's Kettle Corn)

Then, of course:

Wifey loving the funnel cake