ASHLAND — You just never know who you’ll end up having dinner with when you stop by a good roadside barbecue restaurant.

I saw the smoke rolling from the cooker at Rick’s BBQ one recent Friday evening and decided to stop to see if I was lucky enough to catch a couple of ribs.

I pulled into the drive-thru and immediately recognized Larry Pancake standing with a couple ofguys at the walk-up window. I waved and Pancake, who is a law enforcement officer as well as a musician, spoke with authority and told me to park the car and “come meet this guy.”

The guy he wanted me to meet, and share a meal with, was none other than Glenn Symmonds — the man who played drums behind Eddie Money at that evening’s Summer Motion concert. We had a seat at the nearby picnic table while waiting for our orders and Glen quickly established his status as a “barbecueist” (sort of like a Baptist or a Protestant) when he told me he had asked Pancake if he was taking him to a sit-down restaurant or a roadside stand for his barbecue.

Further conversation with Symmonds showed he definitely appreciates the “regional” aspect of slow-roasted and smoked meat by comparing the styles of cooks in Kansas City and Memphis, as well as the stuff Texans call barbecue.

Rick reports he is doing great business at his new location on the outer edge of the Summit Plaza along U.S. 60, and plans to have a new, bigger pit cooker installed soon to deal with the additional demand for his food.

No blueberries

I caught wind of a local blueberry farm last week and got busy trying to find the place. As it turns out, there’s not a blueberry to be found

anywhere on the property, but the story is still worth sharing.

As I originally heard it, Donald Grubb (described as “a super nice guy”) had opened a blueberry farm off Ky. 2 in Greenup County on Dog Gone Lane.

I called Grubb’s house and his wife was giggling before I even finished telling her why I was calling. She explained their favorite song while

dating was Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill,” and family members had crafted a sign for their farm reflecting the tune.

“We have had people stop,” she said with a chuckle, adding “But we have no blueberries.”

Unusually creative

Carl and Michele Gehringer recently opened a new shop, Gehringer’s Creative Cottage, at 515 Pond Road across from the Raceland Super Quick, offering true one-of-a-kind handmade crafts, florals, jewelry and gifts.

The couple had long dreamed of opening their own shop, although they definitely wanted “something a little different,” he said, explaining his wife “always had an artistic side and had an inspiration to turn those ordinary what-nots, household items and even broken items into works of art and crafts.”

In the art world, I’m told this is a practice called “upcycling.”

Mr. Gehringer brought a piece of his wife’s art to the newspaper office and I will agree it is impressive to see what she can do with things others wouldn’t likely consider as components for artistic creations.

The new shop also sells floral arrangements and gifts for special occasions.

The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

For more information call (606) 615-5070.

Good intentions

Everyone seems to be doing what they can to “go green” these days, although sometimes the effort alone negates the goal.

Many of the e-mail notes I receive have a little note tagged on the end that says something like, “We are going green! Please verify the necessity of printing this e-mail — thank you.”

It is a nice sentiment, but the reality is I have to print a LOT of my e-mail and it never fails that the “We are going green!” part causes the

printer to use an extra page just to pass that message along.

It doesn’t take an environmental expert to figure out it is a counterproductive strategy. So if you’re sending an e-mail my way, please

verify the necessity of adding that to the end of your message.

TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2651.