Recently, we had the great pleasure of meeting one of the major players in Michigan's food industry, a man who has been pouring his heart and soul into the bar-b-cue sauce that carries his name. I am speaking of the one and only William Wall, aka Billy Bones. He has been making sauce and other spicy condiments for over 25 years now, and has won over 200 awards and competitions - including 50 first-place finishes.

Headquartered in an unassuming building along Saginaw Road between Sanford and Midland, Mr. Bones oversees the operation for manufacturing and distributing his products. On the day we visited him, he had recently received some cases of his latest product, Billy Bones BBQ-flavored baked pita chips - a joint venture with his friend Jack Aronson of Garden Fresh Gourmet of Ferndale, MI, who now produce a full-line of baked pita chips. While we were munching on those, Billy invited us into his "warehouse", where he gave us samples of his famous BBQ sauce, along with some of his other great items, such as Bucksnort Chili Mix, a BBQ Rib Spice Rub - dubbed "The Secret Ingredient", and little bottles of his Jalapeno Hot Sauce. He also produces his own steak sauce, as well as an upcoming line of flavored wood chips for grilling.

Although he has been making his BBQ sauces for almost 3 decades, Billy Bones shows no signs of slowing down. He is as enthusiastic as ever about promoting his products - to the point where he gave us a case of BBQ to try-out. I must say it is THE BEST BBQ sauce I've ever tried, and it deserves every award received. Close friends and relatives to whom we gave sample bottles have consistently gotten back to us with the question - "where can I get more of this stuff?" Well, if you're a subscriber to our newsletter, you may win a case of the Original BBQ Sauce in our May contest. Otherwise, ask for it by name at your local market or grocery store.