Richard Tyler and his wife Jackie first came to Checotah and just toured the area, but then they decided they wanted to be a part of the community and offer Tyler Mountain BBQ. Now they have become quite the community couple that has fed the local firefighters their annual dinner and city workers during the snow storm, plus locals are getting their bellies full of mouth-watering barbecue at their establishment located at the old Katy Café.

Though the Tylers currently commute from Lake Tenkiller to Checotah, they have listed their place and are in the process of selling so they can move to the Checotah community.

“We want to be full-time residents of Checotah because we think Checotah is like a little Branson and we just love the charm and the hospitality of the people,” Richard Tyler said. “We just fell in love with the town as we started walking up and down the streets. It was crazy. We parked and ate at Boomerang then walked down the street both ways to the school and back to the museum then we walked the other direction and saw the sign in the Katy window. It was a Sunday and I said I doubt if they’ll answer but they did. Then they came and let us walk through the café but I told him I needed to think about it because we had just got our big fancy trailer and my dad had done this beautiful wrap on it with his favorite scripture from Luke 21:33 that states ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.’ Then shortly after, he passed. But I knew we were to continue his work and 10 months later we signed a deal.

“I’ve been smoking barbecue since 1984 and my father was a Gideon who put Bibles all over, so feeding the body and the soul was always our goal. Currently we take 30 percent of all we do and anything that goes in the tip jar and we give it to the Vian Program Center to help kids in need.

“My wife Jacqueline but she goes by Jackie, taught literacy for 28 years and was the number one reading specialist in Cherokee County until she retired. But she saw that kids didn’t have adequate books at school and couldn’t buy them at book fairs so we started working with the Vian Backpack program to make sure kids had snacks and books.

“Taking care of others has always been a huge part of what my father taught me. In fact before I met the mayor of Checotah I had already heard about him from one of our friends that broke down while coming through the town. They had a feed trailer and the axle broke on them in town. That’s when the mayor rolled up behind them and asked if they needed help. My friend asked if he knew a welder and the mayor ran and got one. Then he got up underneath the trailer and helped fix the trailer but refused to take any money for it. That was one of our prayer partners.

“So now while my meat is smoking in the morning I like to take a walk and do a little live video to show off other businesses and feature people to help promote their business too. That’s what a community does! Just like our first night when we ran out of cups and Kathy and Karen from June’s brought us some cups to use and Linda and Wally from the Gentry Cinema who wanted to partner with us for a Valentine’s Dinner and a movie night.

“I love a great community and I love that we are getting to be a part of this one. We have already met so many wonderful people like the ladies from Freedom House that we are hopefully going to work with to help them give back to the community and learn another trade.

“Our whole goal here is for people to come in, turn off their cell phones for a few minutes and enjoy reconnecting with each other. We want people to feel His Spirit here and the difference of the atmosphere when they come through our doors to give them 30 minutes of peace.

“On Sunday buffets we tell everyone to scoot over because we are a small restaurant and are all like family. Amazingly we have already met people from England, Australia, Germany and Hong Kong because they come off I-40 ready to eat and then we tell them about the museums, antique stores, Sports Complex and all the great places Checotah has to see. And we are blessed to be a part of it now as well.”

Tyler Mountain BBQ will be catering the Checotah Chamber of Commerce Banquet next Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. and Richard hopes to meet more locals and local businesses that evening.