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SAUCY FAMILY COOKS UP SUPPORTby Cathy Mitchell Not content with available sauces, Chester and Betty began experimenting with recipes, repeatedly changing ingredients, tasting, changing again. Perhaps at times there was too much sugar or maybe not enough salt. Samples were carefully taste-tested and analyzed. Given the time and care involved, there was no doubt that these two were serious about their sauce. They were so serious that after they settled on a recipe that suited their palates, they decided to share their creation, and opened a barbecue restaurant at the west edge of Versailles. With the help of his father, Charlie Daniels, Chester built the restaurant from the ground up. They also built an open cooking pit in the restaurant, using bricks from the old Versailles City Hall which had burned and had been torn down. The establishment was christened "Chet and Bet's Barbecue Drive-In." From the beginning, it was a family business: Chester, Betty, daughter Gladys, and, when he could be persuaded to quit harassing cottontail rabbits with a .410 shotgun, little brother Corky. Betty recruited a staff of loyal, dedicated waitresses, all high school girls from Versailles. Betty fondly refers to "her girls" as adopted daughters. "We were like family," she said. Among others, they included Donna Iman Farr, Versailles, Versailles City Clerk Kay Hutchison Williams and celebrated children's book author June Rae Wood. "It was a great fun time," said Kay about her days at Chet and Bet's place. "Chester made it good." Chet and Bet's was a success, Betty thinks, partly because the tantalizing barbecue aroma would roll across Route 52, and motorists would do a U-turn, returning to the source of olfactory delight. Chet and Bet's became a regular gathering place for connoisseurs of fine barbecue, both locals and vacationers traveling to and from the Lake of the Ozarks. Sometimes it was stressful, when the eatery would fill to overflowing, but the girls managed to keep everybody served and happy. During one of those standing-room-only days, Chester asked June to "put on a pot of coffee when you run out of something to do." "If looks could kill, he would have been dead," laughed Betty. Only later was it a source of amusement. During the Chet and Bet operation, Chester was a substitute mail carrier, and after a few years was offered a full-time position as a rural carrier . . . an offer too good to refuse. Chet and Bet's Barbecue Drive-In was a going concern, but, since Betty could not handle the barbecue business alone, they regretfully closed the drive-in. End of the story? Not quite! From the closing date of Chet and Bet's, Betty has been bombarded with requests from old customers and family for the special Chet and Bet Barbecue Sauce. When she could, she filled those requests, but could not keep up with the demand. She and Chester idly speculated from time to time about the possibility of producing the sauce on a commercial level, but never took the idea seriously. Betty continued to talk about producing her sauce for retail sale until finally Gladys told her, "Mom, either do it or stop talking about it!" So they did it! Betty is justifiably proud of her family; Gladys, now general manager of Leroy Van Dyke Enterprises, and Corky, Court Reporter for the 26th Judicial Circuit. It is still a family affair-BCG Products, L.L.C., for Betty, Corky, Gladys. With Betty, Gladys and Corky working together, Chet and Bet Barbecue Sauce became a commercial reality. Gladys researched all the necessities of producing barbecue sauce, one of which was developing a health department approved kitchen as a production site. That accomplished, cooking and bottling began. The BCG entrepreneurs had a good laugh at each other as sauce production began-all attired in hairnets and rubber gloves, more like surgeons and nurses scrubbed for surgery than like chefs. On "cooking" days, sauce is concocted from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; daily production is several cases per day. Betty and her family are happy to see the realization of her dream, and, with Chester, her high-school romance and life companion, gone since 1996, production and sale of Chet and Bet Barbecue Sauce gives Betty a reason each morning to get up and get going. Betty has no plans for opening another restaurant, but looks forward to the Chet and Bet Barbecue Sauce grand marketing kick-off during this year's Old Tyme Apple Festival in Versailles. Her stand will be located in the Versailles City Park, featuring barbecued pork, beef and hamburgers. Her "fans" from years past can satisfy their taste buds as they did over 40 years ago. The event will also be an informal "family" reunion, as many former Chet and Bet waitresses, now mature ladies with families, show up at Betty's stand for camaraderie and moral support. June Rae, Donna and Kay, among others, will be in attendance. Betty is proud of all her "daughters" and said, "They have all done really well; "I'm proud of them all." Who had any idea when Chester and Betty attended school together, saw each other in the hall, crossed paths at school dances and began dating that their mutual love of barbecued foods would lead to the formation of BCG Products and marketing of Chet and Bet Barbecue Sauce? Bon Appetite! 
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