| A
Bit History | A
Tribute to Kaye |
Bayou Billy - A Bit of History
My life has been in food concessions since the age of 10. My mother played
Industrial League Softball. At the park where she played there was no concession
stand. I cut a deal with my neighbor who was the local Coca Cola plant
manager to bring me a crate of 16oz. bottle Cokes and some Coke cups. At
that time there was no such thing as a 2-Liter. Cokes only came in 6-10
and 16oz. sizes. Working off a card table out of the truck of my mom's
car, I put ice in the cups and sold them for 10 cents each. That night
I made a profit of $23.10. At that time, grown men working in factories
were only making $12.00 per day. That day my life was formed.
As time went on, I sold anything that could be sold in food
concessions. In 1978 I opened up a fun food factory. We were
selling about 3200 bushels of popcorn, 2500 bags of cotton
candy and 1000's of bottles of homemade lemonade in grocery
stores and gas stations per week. Then I sold that business
and fulfilled my life-long dream of opening a full-service
restaurant. I operated the 160 seat restaurant in Morgan City,
LA for 8 1/2 years. I loved cooking and meeting the public
more than anything on earth. In August of 1991 my dream restaurant
came to an end when hurricane Andrew ripped into my restaurant
and left only one wall standing. I decided after talking to
the Allstate man, that I was in good hands and I shut the restaurant
down forever.
I found myself a northern girl from Saginaw, MI. I got her
at Sam's Club. We moved to West Palm Beach Florida. In time,
we started working a few shows in Florida. This is the toughest
place on earth to be a food vendor. We had a grandson born
in Saginaw and saw him for only 2 hours in the first 2 years
of his life, which wasn't working well for us, so I said we
need to go to Michigan in the summer to work and get to know
our grandson.
In 1995 we built our first mobile Bayou Billy Restaurant.
Eventually, we made it into one of the most popular booths
at each of the events we worked. I took my signature dishes
and went on the road with them. In 1998 we added our Homemade
Soda Pop and started manufacturing tin mugs in which to sell
soda. Our formula for the Homemade Sodas are from my family's
business back in the 40's.
Now we had a winning combination. Everyone was wanting the
Bayou Billy Collectable Mugs. We started selling mobile soda
stores to other vendors. We now have 17 Bayou Billy Mobile
Stores in 22 States. This year we added Mobile Restaurants
in Michigan, Rochester New York and Tennessee. We also expect
a new Store in California later this year.
We also introduced Snow Cream which is a Great Old Southern
Thang. Our tasty new dessert item was brilliantly served in
a smaller version of our famous Bayou Billy Collectable Tin
Mug.
All of our success comes from our loyal customers who have
bought our food and drink, and vendors who have bought our
Mobile Stores. We have committed to both our customers and
vendors to sell only the best product. I believe that our customers
come back to us year after year because we give them more than
their money's worth, plus we have good food. Other concessionaires
act as if they're oil companies and charge what the market
will bear. I believe that if you give customers good value,
they will be your customers for years to come. After all, I
intend on doing this for years to come.
Bayou Billy
| A
Bit History | A
Tribute to Kaye | |
