Thanks for the early responses to this thread so far. With things being so bad weather-wise over by you, it makes me even more appreciative to read the comments.

I have already sent PM's to both Big Red Chief & Shiver Me Timbers as per the cost of the BBQ event at Arrowhead. I contemplated mentioning it here but I just don't know who might be lurking and reading this. I'll also add to both of you (and anyone else who might be interested) that I can send via e-mail the actual proposal, so you can see it is legit.

What I can say is if it was to be held at Arrowhead, we'd have use of 4 different parking lot areas (Parking Lots B, C, H & M) for the teams to BBQ and the judges area would be held at the Founders Club and we'd also be able to access the Founders Club Plaza.

If this were to happen, it really would be a most memorable event - BBQ Competitive Contests at a football stadium don't really happen and in my first couple of Zoom meetings, it was said that during the downtime of the early part of the pandemic, NFL teams were talking to each other about how to drum up some interest to get fans back in the stadium for events besides games and this kind of idea was mentioned in passing, so a contest like this - especially if achieved success, would potentially cascade a bit in other NFL cities to hold their own (which I personally wouldn't be involved, since I want this to succeed here in KC).

Big Red Chief - I would very much welcome discussing your experience with Arrowhead South. I will PM my cell.

Gblowfish - thanks so much for those suggestions. I have been brainstorming ideas as to who to go after for sponsorships. That is definitely crucial to the success of the BBQ Contest and I will go after each and every one of who you listed (as well as countless more ideas - I only hope and pray potential sponsors will be willing to donate, especially in these uncertain COVID times...)

Big thanks to Clay - who I had the pleasure of talking with for awhile last evening! He's already got several ideas to go about doing this so he is on board and I'm very appreciative of not just his willingness to help out but his vast professional experience in getting this out on his platform. As was said last night, this is a team effort and for this to really become reality, there are people who have areas of expertise and Clay knows exactly what he needs to do and how to go about doing it, so I have sent him something to work with and he's going to do a great job with molding it the right way.

Bowser - I am Facebook friends with Phil and we have always enjoyed a friendly, amicable relationship. He's a good guy and we have seen eye to eye on everything pertaining to Delaney, as well as other matters. If I had a Mount Rushmore of favorite moments in my life as Chiefs fan, being at Arrowhead when the Chiefs made the Super Bowl (against the Titans) is actually #1 because my must see event in life was to be in Arrowhead when the Chiefs finally made the Super Bowl, being in Miami when the Chiefs won the Super Bowl is a very close second. I can debate among a bunch of things as per the last one (likely Mahomes being drafted would be it), but the third one for me on Mount Rushmore is easy. It's the night of the 2004 - 101 Banquet in KC and Phil, Stevie Ray, myself and I believe it was Scott were there and sitting at the table of the Delaney family as Joe was finally inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame after 20+ years. We were there that night because we were their invited guests. The feeling of satisfaction that night being there - nothing can ever take that achievement away. I have reached out to Phil during the past several months to keep him appraised and I did so again earlier this morning. I know he has to be glad seeing this all happen and what he, I and others did with 37 Forever should always be something to look back on with pride. It was not just us accomplishing this - it was ALL of us!

Chiefs Planet has been involved in two worthy endeavors - Save Our Chiefs and 37 Forever. Hopefully, this will be the next one...

KS Smitty and Twisted Chief - thanks for your most kind words and for being great people. I'm proud to call you both friends....

MGRS13 - not a bad idea at all with the Jackson County Courthouse idea. I will look to see how to go about doing that. Keep in mind (not mentioned in the original post), these two ideas (I-435 & BBQ) are the ones that have the best chance, but they weren't the only avenues I've explored the last 7 months. For instance, I tried to contact the people in charge of renaming the JC Nichols Fountain, which would be an absolutely fantastic plan, especially given how visible that particular landmark is to KC (but they never answered either appeal). I also have reached out to KC International Airport about having the newly constructed terminal named after Joe and they did respond that they would take it under advisement and although that too would be great - it could easily reach overkill, so although I give you my word I will explore it - if we do attain I-435 Joe Delaney Memorial Highway on the approach to Arrowhead for tens of thousands of Chiefs on Game Day and some kind of annual Joe Delaney BBQ event in October to coincide with his birth date - those two especially really accomplish honoring Joe in a very proper and local way.

Keep it coming - I promise to be available for any feedback! I'm definitely very excited to be doing this not just for Joe's memory, but for KC itself. It is what I always call my home away from home and it is an honor to try everything in my power to make a positive impact to the area again....

Adam: I don't know who you've been in contact with at the Chiefs, but if you haven't been in the business or marketing people's radar, I'd start contact with Gary Spani. He's an ex player and has been in the Chiefs front office for many many years. He's also by all reports a stand up guy and very helpful. He played with Delaney, so he'd be a good source of info and perhaps could open some doors for you inside the Chiefs organization. I'd also contact the Jackson County Sports Commission to see if they could help with the planning of the event. https://www.chiefs.com/team/front-office-roster/

Adam thanks for the response. That $$$ number for JUST the parking lot is nuts. Had no idea asphalt setting empty was worth that regardless of the venue.

My uncle is the sales manager at Aristocrat - I can throw a word to him to see if they would be a viable sponsor option for BBQ contest? I imagine he isn't the person to speak to directly regarding sponsorships, but maybe he can put you in contact with the right person there or pass on their information to be contacted.

Feel free to PM me if you'd prefer to discuss further.

ChiefBlueCFC - thank you! Just sent a PM to you and looking forward to your response.

gblowfish - when the Chiefs were first pursued, the Alumni Department was first on the agenda and Gary Spani was the reason for it. Besides heading up the Alumni Department, Gary is 1 of 10 presumed Chiefs Ambassadors who were teammates of Joe, along with a coach at that time. That entire list is Spani, Art Still, Deron Cherry, Carlos Carson, Mike Bell, Ken Kremer, Ted McKnight, Dave Lindstrom, Charlie Getty and Trent Bryant (Walt Corey being the assistant coach way back then). Carson played college ball at LSU and grew up in Louisiana so he likely would have an interest. Art Still was part of 37 Forever's initial golf outing back in 2001 and he's a good stand up guy. Cherry always has worn his heart on his sleeve when talking about Joe in all the features. When I initially contacted the Alumni Department, they all were e-mailed and the very first Zoom Conference of the 5 with the Chiefs (which was held the morning of the Banner Raising Home Opener against the Texans) was with 2 members from the department (names withheld) but I can say Mr. Spani was not in on that meeting, but the people I spoke with are very good (and echoed by a KC media member I just befriended yesterday) and I still stay in regular touch with them. They actually were the ones who introduced me and got me connected with the local KC Bank to establish this account for the Memorial Highway.

Nevertheless, I'd really love to be introduced to Gary Spani. As you said, he can be an incredible help.

The Jackson County Sports Commission is a brand new idea and I'm going to bring it up with KCBS before the week is out. Thanks George!

Shiver Me Timbers - yeah, the cost is a pretty penny. I do very much wish the price came in a lot lower, but I'm not upset at the Chiefs. Far from it. They have a business to run and I get it. This will definitely grab attention and be great PR for them as well. I just need to qualify that we would have access to The Founders Club, as well as The Founders Plaza so it would include use of those facilities as well. It might not be meant to be to have it at Arrowhead, but if that does indeed come to pass, it will not deter me to having a Joe Delaney BBQ Contest take root in KC this year.

Other Location Ideas:

BBQ Restaurant - there's definitely a lot of great venues to choose from and makes a bunch of sense. BBQ Contest should naturally occur at a BBQ restaurant. I have reached out to 1 so far - only because it is an up and comer and is still not open on weekends, so they would not have to worry about being out of pocket but no response yet. Clay had another BBQ venue in mind when we spoke the other night and he is right - their atmosphere would make for a superb venue. If we go that route, it's not necessarily about choosing the best BBQ restaurant in the area - it's more about choosing a BBQ place that offers up a great location, spacious parking area for teams to cook, vibrant atmosphere and sure, a solid reputation as an entrenched KC BBQ restaurant. From our side, it would need to be a location which would welcome the chance to host the event and be able to offer a sweetheart of a deal to make the cost of having the event there be the right choice.

Going perhaps in a different direction - someone from KCBS suggested West Bottoms and stated a BBQ promoter had used the area around Kemper Arena for a contest the last couple of years. As a New Yorker who knows where Arrowhead, Kauffman, the best of the best KC BBQ restaurants, the best ice cream places and a few other places in town are, yes I know where Kemper is but West Bottoms is where exactly?

Also, there might be a chance to bring it to a historical venue....

Big Red Chief - I need to respond to your PM's and I will shortly...

The West Bottoms is an area where the old KC Stockyards were located. It's at the bottom of the bluff in the river valley just west of Downtown KC. Kemper Arena is located in the West Bottoms. The American Royal facilities are located there too, right next to Kemper. Kemper is now owned and operated as a youth sports facility by Hy-Vee Grocery chain.

v 1.0

https://i.imgur.com/wKqMBnW.jpg

Looking really good, Clay! THANK YOU!

Have an e-mail into the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) as per whether electronic signatures can be utilized for the signature requirement, which would probably make it easier. Should be hearing from them soon, maybe as early as tomorrow.

Hope to also have a BBQ Contest update this week/next week as George's ideas (along with others involved with the project from the onset) are bringing new important people into the mix that have the necessary experience to pull this off in KC, so stay tuned with that.

Thanks everyone...

What do we think about adding the counties to the image - will that muddy the message too much?

We could always put that in the tweet on the image instead.

Let me know if we need to tweak anything - I think it's a good week to blast this out in a few days on the socials and get going.

He just wanted to talk at us.

Marty and I are going to tease the graphic tomorrow with a tweet.

Graphic will go out Wednesday as a call to action.

Teaser tweet scheduled.

https://i.imgur.com/3gGMU2D.jpg

I'm also changing my avatar to Joe and twitter name to "Joe Delaney Memorial Highway Project"

2.0 - reads better

https://i.imgur.com/MkyHWHW.jpg

FB posts are up

<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurChiefs/posts/3866836013368668" data-width="500" data-show-text="true"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurChiefs/posts/3866836013368668" class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><p>Would you like to make the next trip to Arrowhead Stadium via the JOE DELANEY MEMORIAL HIGHWAY?

A small group is...</p>Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurChiefs/">The Chiefs Kingdom</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurChiefs/posts/3866836013368668">Tuesday, February 23, 2021</a></blockquote></div>

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<script async defer crossorigin="anonymous" src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v9.0" nonce="jMfTMZBg"></script>

<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/RedTribeCinema/posts/3977281725628042" data-width="500" data-show-text="true"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/RedTribeCinema/posts/3977281725628042" class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><p>Would you like to make the next trip to Arrowhead Stadium via the JOE DELANEY MEMORIAL HIGHWAY?

A small group is...</p>Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RedTribeCinema/">Red Tribe Cinema</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/RedTribeCinema/posts/3977281725628042">Tuesday, February 23, 2021</a></blockquote></div>