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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1994-9-7, Page 9VIE1VF1NlI1FJ R Times -Advocate, September 7„1994 Page 9 Joyce Lappin stirs the Ring of Fire chili pot Saturday afternoon. Chili hot, but crowds cool The Legion wonders how to keep the fire under the annual Chili Cookoff after the weekend event draws only 11 teams and reluctant crowds EXETER - Dave Grundy says he can't help but feel a little hitter about the weekend's Fourth Annual Chili Cookoff. It's not the chili, but the lack of it, that has him dis- appointed. Although the Exeter Legion once again "limited" participation in the event to 30 teams, only 11 this year actually set up thcir booths on the Legion parking lot for the competition. Even the crowds seemed less caught up in the event. Most vis- itors didn't ar- rive until the chi- li was ready for tasting, between 3:30 and 4 p.m., meaning the event looked more like a ghost town than a bustling Mexican can- tina for most of the afternoon. "Attendance was down from the standpoint of visitors and teams en- tering," con firnled.Grundy. Keeping the enthusiasm for the event going all day long proved a failure, he said, but said the eve- • ning dar:e after the trophies had been handed out was a "roaring success" until nearly 11 p.m. If Grundy is a little hitter, he says it is because the Legion receives many donation requests from vari- ous organizations and teams throughout the year, hut when it comes to getting four people to en- ter a team in the Legion's event, Grundy says they come up shoe. Perhaps the problem is co- inciding the Cookoff with the La- bour Day weekend, he suggests. "There's been talk of changing the weekend," he said, proposing that moving it a week later, or a couple of wecks earlier- would be the ticket to success. Problems with that include avoiding other community events, and other chili cookoffs on the provincial "circuit". Still, the Cookoff isn't a money losing proposition, said Grundy, hut admits that he wishes it made money on the scale that similar events in other small towns do. Grundy said he will be handing the reins of thc Chili Cookoff to another Le- gion member for next year, and hopes some "new ideas" will be able to attract people to the event "for other reasons, other than the chi- li". The good news is thc 11 entering teams with some sort;'of tro- t that 10 of went home phy. In the Open Division, the Mills Construction/Scip's Valu Mart team placed first with their Ring of Fire chili. In second was Cascy's Lawn Care's Blades of Fire. fhird place wcnt to Frayne's General Store's Jerk Chili. In the CASI division (Chili Ap- preciation Society International) first went to John Leather of Bel - wood's Road Kill Chili, second to Les Winter of Rockwood's Tall Texan, and gird to Marg Foster of Huron Park. In fourth to sixth plac- es were the Special Hearts from Kitchener, Mark Gaskin's Jose's Cafe, and Veri Trucking's booth. Both the People's Choice and Best Decorated booth awards went to the Mills ConstructionNalu Man team, and Holtzmann's IGA were voted the Most Entertaining learn. At right, above, OPP Staff Sergeant Don McInnes is on his Way Into the cold water, after Matthew McAuslan hits the dunk tank target. At right, below, Gail Stubbs said she came all the way from Waterloo to taste the chl!I at the Exeter Legion's an- nual Cookoff. Here she uses her official taste testing kit to sample the Blades of Are from the Casey's Lawn Care team. A Stirring in his top-secret ingredients, Pete Maxwell concocts his Pete's Potent Potion for the Veri Trucking chili team. "It's got a bite, but then it cools down," he promised. NOM INN AMR MOW MINI All :...1E41I- Ar111111MIIII I MIN 1s1 w f to t ' iN 0 �. A ■ MINN 'ii� Irr Lid MINNOffliffine Ilk— wars mosOM a mu, 1mm on a wha N Erin Kraftcheck finds out just how cold the dunk tank really is. Volunteers took turns in the tank to help raise funds for the Exeter Scouting groups. Karen Smith, an Exeter Legion member, models an official Chili Cool'off t -shirt.