You may be a cookout king, but you’ve never seen grills like these. RedNek BBQs specializes in themed outdoor grills. From the wild to the cool, the equipment is as fun to view as it is to use. Recently, the company donated a custom grill to be raffled at the first El Coyote Café Firefighter Salsa Competition, which benefited the Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firemen’s Fund.
For RedNek President Eddie Sanders, the desire to help firefighters starts at home. He said, “My daughter, who graduated high school early, came from Oregon to fight the forest fires in the Big Sur for the National Forestry Service area this summer.”
The idea to make custom barbecue grills came to Eddie while sitting on his patio, staring at his grill. “I would picture handlebars from a motorcycle for the [barbecue] handle, painted in a shiny black paint with chrome accents. I would see a Harley Davidson Motorcycle,” he said. “My mind started to explore different themes.”
From there, he reached out to Peter Thorpe, President of Tusker Trading & Surplus Metals. Peter and his dedicated staff helped make Eddie’s visions a reality. And Eddie’s son Brandon Sanders and Kevin Hutchison help with trade shows and moral support. “Without these people none of this would of happened,” Eddie said.
Fire Station 109 won the raffle. LAFD Captain Dave Wagner, who works at 109, said, “Eddie is making up a custom barbecue for the firehouse that’s clad in Diamond Plate and has a fire axe for a handle. This beauty will really be ‘fireman proof.'”
The reaction of the firefighters upon seeing his sample grill at the salsa competition was a special treat for the grill designer. Eddie said, “I could not begin to tell you how delighted I was when I saw the firemen’s’ eyes light up when they saw the ‘Firemen 911 Grill.'” And to firefighter’s eyes will continue to light up because Eddie is offering a limited number of custom grills (normally priced around $1,700) to firefighters for the cost of materials and labor, $975.
For Eddie and the rest of the crew at RedNek BBQs, supporting the Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firemen’s Fund is a great way to say thanks. “These men and woman risk their lives night and day putting out fires and coming to their community’s aid,” he said. “We thought of no better way to give back to our fallen firefighters and their families than to donate this beautiful, one-of-a-kind BBQ.”
For more information on RedNek BBQs, call (951) 764-0339.
By Candace Nicholson