Back in time

For over 20 years, John and I have always worked amazingly well together. We each bring to the table a unique perspective to a project, concept or business and the CharBQ was no exception. Prior to the CharBQ grill, our first real business together was, Penguin Bottling Company, the manufacturer of Penguin Ice premium Canadian spring waters. This company was the only other monetary project we worked on together, while all of the other projects were, modifications to existing inventions that produced self happiness.
So, back in 2005 we created a portable pig roaster made from a barrel, metal plates, four wheels, switches, roof fan for exhaust, lighting and 6 different electrical circuits. This was our pride and joy, every year we would modify some aspect of the roaster to enhance the look or functionality. For example, the roaster went from a hand crank to an electrical motor, from a single circuit to six and from on/off switches to sliders. We enjoyed the project. In later years, we would collaborate on other ideas, from parade floats to treasure hunts, from luau parties to inventions. And it was in 2009 that I was on an inventors' kick.
Mid summer of 2009, I was working on the VersaCup, an oversized cup holder that would fit in an automobile's cup holder and allow it to hold any object, from an iPhone to french fries. I had informed John of my idea and he took it to the next level, at the same time, we were gearing up for our annual Luau, which meant that we needed to prepare the pig roaster, clean her up, and make any fixes or adjustments. This was our mindset.