When we bought the house, I told my wife that she could buy what she wanted as far as drapes and lighting fixtures and furniture and all that kind of stuff, but I was damn-well going to get myself an honest-to-goodness hardwood-fired bbq.  And that's what I did.  The original large Big Green Egg sits patiently outside as I write this, waiting for the next time we team up to create an awesome family meal.  Definitely the best purchase I've ever made in my life (correction: except for my wife's engagement and wedding ring; sorry dear!).

So, with the new cooker on the deck, the search began for a local and reliable meat shop for my new-found passion of barbecue and all those intriguing and confusing cuts of meat with the funny names.... pork butt, packer-trimmed brisket, shoulder clod and baby back ribs.  I remembered having gone to Courtesy Meats with my aunt and uncle who lived in east London back when I was a kid.  Could it possibly still be there some thirty years later?

As it has been for well over 30 years, Courtesy Meats was indeed still there and that's when Roy Simpson and I forged a friendly acquaintance developed over the convergence of his passion for meat and mine for great bbq.  Roy cut the first brisket I ever cooked. Both of us learning how much fat to leave, where to leave it, where to remove it and just what made a great end result on the Egg. Eventually, it just reached the point where I'd call and leave a message: 'It's competition time', and I'd stop in a couple days later and there would be a cardboard packing box or two, containing two perfectly trimmed and wrapped briskets, two squared off pork butt roasts and 4 slabs of back ribs that Roy would have cut straight off the loin primal himself just for my use, always with just enough loin meat on top, but not too thick and definitely no 'shiners' in the bunch.  Over time, and trial-and-error, Roy and I had developed an unspoken knowledge of just what made good competition bbq.  Even when my relationships in the Dizzy Pig business and bbq team took me to other meat sponsors for periods of time, Roy was always eager and ready to fill an order for a cater or for a last-minute addition to our competition schedule meat requirements.

Since our relationship was largely driven by my competition bbq needs, it was no real big deal that it had been several months since I had last visited Courtesy Meats.  I had always felt a pang of guilt in that I didn't go to Courtesy Meats for our everyday family shopping needs, but it always seemed more 'convenient' to grab meat at the grocery store when getting other items.  Then when I started working in a grocery store myself about 14 months ago, it really cut into the number of visits to Roy's shop, as I would simply grab something at work before heading home and that would be the night's dinner.

With our first competition of the season approaching in 3 weeks, it was time to get reacquainted with Courtesy Meats and with the Simpson family once again.  On Friday, as I drove up the main road adjacent to Falcon Street, I caught a glimpse of the shop and saw the parking lot was empty.  "That's great", I thought, as it would give me ample opportunity to talk to Roy and Lorraine and discuss the brisket order I was going to place to cover practices and competition cooking.  Onto Falcon Street and then a right into Courtesy and then......

I had an empty, hard feeling in my gut as I saw the place empty and deserted.  How could this be?  Courtesy Meats has been here forever! (Actually, if I recall correctly, I think they had been in business since the early 70's).  Then my mind raced through the scenarios: Did business dry up (and again the guilty feelings arise)?  Did something happen to Roy? (Oh, God, no!), or then, on the upside, Did he finally decide to put down the boning knife and retire to a relaxed life not spent hunched over a butcherblock table?  I raced home and did a 'Google' search on 'Courtesy Meats', 'Courtesy Meats closed' and 'Roy Simpson Courtesy Meats London Ontario' etc and all came up empty.

And that's what I'm left with; an empty feeling.  I'm not out to say that this is the case of another small business getting caught under the heal of the meglomart mentality of most consumers.  And I'm not trying to erase the guilt and make myself feel better after going and purchasing most of my family's meat elsewhere.  I'm just feeling bad that Courtesy Meats is no more.  Roy, Lorraine and family, I hope you're out there, enjoying a life beyond Courtesy Meats, safe in the knowledge that people enjoyed the personal touch and the pride you took in your business.  And I want you to know, a visit to Courtesy Meats was always about more than just getting a brisket........ Thank you for the friendly, personal service, patience, knowledge, willingness to go that extra mile to help me make the best possible bbq I could. Thank you, thank you, and good luck.