Friend of KRO: Dave Derr

This is a time of transition for Dave. On Monday after 30 years of service he retired from the fire department. Dave is married to Dawn Jordan, KRO’s top notch Office Manager.

Dave was 21 years old and working as a union carpenter in Los Angeles when his family moved to the Kern Valley. He’d come up and visit them on weekends and enjoy the outdoor activities and natural beauty of the area. When the weekends kept getting longer, he realized it was time to get a job in the area and move to the Kern River. Firefighting appealed to him because you have the opportunity on your calls to make a bad situation better for people.

Over the years Dave has boated the different sections of the Kern River many times. His favorite trip is the 2 -Day Lower Kern because it has a little bit of everything. As Dave says "You have your “woohoo time” interspersed with quiet sections. And then of course there is the KRO Lower Camp which is set up with a buffed out river kitchen." And it is tough to keep Dave out of the kitchen.

After seeing him at work in the kitchen and tasting his dishes at a couple of bbq’s he was recruited to make the ribs for our Annual Pub & Grub trip. These mouthwatering morsels have just the right combo of heat and sweet and unbelievably he has offered to share the recipe with us. Of course if you’d like to stay out of the kitchen just sign up for next year’s Pub & Grub on July 8-9, 2010 where Dave’s Ribs are paired with cold steins of frosty brew!

In a recent intra-company Rib Cookoff, Dave’s ribs were the clear winner over Jim Ritter of Rogue River Journeys. While accepting his 1st Place Ribbon, Dave graciously commented “I just want to say that Jim’s recipe was excellent. It’s too bad that his long drive to the cook-off put time constraints on his preparation and he had to use canned sauce.” Dawn, Dave’s assistant rib maker, sighed and added “Jim had to use Larrapins”.

Dave’s summary of life:

Favorite rapid on the Kern River: “Pinball, I enjoy its technical aspects”.
Favorite part of the rafting company: “Socializing and meeting new people”
Dave’s favorite person in the world: “ I am married to her, Dawn Jordan”.
Quote from Dave: “When Dawn is happy, I am happy.”

Everyone at KRO congratulates Dave on his retirement!



Dave's Ribs

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Wash ribs and pat dry. Season well with black pepper and garlic powder. Roast uncovered for 1 hour.
Remove from oven. Mix 2 parts soy to 1 part worcestershire sauce and pour liberally all over ribs, making sure that liquid comes up at least _” on sides of roasting pan. Seal pan with aluminum foil and return to oven for 1 hour and 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and cut into chunks of 2 or 3 ribs. Brush on your favorite sauce and finish on the barbecue.