OUTDOOR GRILLING
ColoradoCookin’ A passion for BBQ competition sparks successful specialty store. BY KIMBERLY RODGERS PHOTOS BY KHAYMAN LOPEZ
IN THE MID-1990S, Tony Roberts
and Dan Casey, both finance managers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, became good friends through a mutual enjoyment of tailgating and barbecuing together before every Illinois home football game. About 20 years ago, both landed in Denver where they continued their friendship and passion for barbecue by dabbling in backyard competitions with family and friends. In 2014, an invitation to participate in a sanctioned Kansas City Barbeque Society competition in the Colorado town of Conifer soon followed. The exciting atmosphere of the event was everything they were looking for. “There was the Top: Opened in 2017, Proud Souls Barbecue & Provisions is the first brick-and-mortar store to focus solely on barbecue grills, smokers, and accessories in the Denver area. Bottom: Both of its locations offer a wide variety of grill products from top-name manufacturers.
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