TUESDAY - May 29, 2007

Inland Empire Regional Chili Cookoff by Karen Ray

How much chili can 9,000 people consume? Well, for sure more than was available on Saturday at the Inland Empire Regional Chili Cookoff. People began arriving at 9:30 am and wanted to buy tasting kits right away. By noon many of the ICS cooks were out of People's Choice chili. Many thanks to those who went to a nearby store to buy more chili to serve. Although the 11 teams of Community Cooks each brought at least 5 gallons of chili, they too ran out by 2:00 pm. Whew! What a crowd!

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When the people were not tasting chili, there was a lot to occupy their time. Magnolia Avenue is closed to traffic for the day over a six-block area. That area is packed with things to see and do.

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The crafts fair is outstanding. All vendors are required to have 75% handcrafted items in their booths. The participants were many and varied, all with quality merchandise to sell.

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Two stages were in place along the street. The Community stage featured local bands and entertainers. The Main stage hosted the opening ceremonies, with a welcoming address from Riverside's Mayor Ron Loveridge. This was followed by performances by the band "Cubo" interspersed with the Little Miss Chili Pepper and Little Mr Hot Sauce contests. "Cubo" is a band whose members are all officers in the Riverside Police Department. They are greatly in demand for events in the area.

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The car show was bigger and better than ever. Over 110 cars participated this year. They were joined by a smaller but equally excellent group of motorcycles. We expect that part of the show will grow in the future.

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The Kid's area was larger and had more variety than in past years. It featured several bounces, a pony ride and a very nice petting zoo.

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We thank all of the cooks who participated this year. We know how difficult it is to keep up with the People's Choice demands of a hungry public, and we appreciate your efforts. And the winners were:

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Salsa (18 entries):

5th, Tom Clarke

4th, Patricia Sanchez

3rd, $75, Paul Whitney

2nd, $150, Sachiko Brecke

1st, $300, Marian Donato, a brand new ICS member who is very excited to be representing us at the World's Championship!

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Chili Verde (9 entries):

5th, Russell Barnes

4th, Charlie Blosfield

3rd, $150, James P. Jordan

2nd, $250, Sachiko Brecke

1st, $500, Mike Ford

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ICS People's Choice Chili:

3rd, Russell Barnes

2nd, Susie Baumberger

1st, $250, Charlie Blosfield

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Traditional Red Chili (21 entries, including 3 brand new ICS members)

5th, Eileen Beaty

4th, Bonnie Ford

3rd, $250, Susie Baumberger

2nd, $500, Charlie Blosfield

1st, $1,000, Karl Smith

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Congratulations to all who won and placed. See ya next year

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Hawaii State CCO. By Jim Stoddard
RESULTS:
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SALSA (11 Contestants-- sorry, no point totals);

3. Mic Joplin (Chilisaurus Chili)
2. Kenner Peterson (Pepper Pete Chili)
1. Bill Forsyth (Not Forgotten Chili)
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VERDE (12 Contestants);

3. Mark Conching (4 Part Chili), 8 points
2. Darla Hochhalter (Chili by the See), 9 points
1. Dave Sinclair (Half Fast Chili), 13 points
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RED (14 Contestants);

3. Carolyn Blakemore (Shady Lady Chili), 10 points - lost the tie breaker for 2nd.
2. Debbie Turner (Goat Gap Gazette Chili), 10 points - won the tie breaker for 2nd.
1. Mic Joplin (Chilisaurus Chili), 28 points.

That is all. Good night, mahalo, and aloha.

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Rockome Bluegrass Festival & District Chili Cookoff

Arcola, Illinois

International Chili Society Sanctioned

Chili Cookoff Results

May 26, 2007

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Great weather, sweet rolls and coffee from the Rockome Bakery greeted the Chili Cooks and their support teams for the International Chili Society Sanctioned 2007 Rockome Bluegrass Festival and District Chili Cookoff. Cooks from Illinois, Indiana, & Kentucky gathered on the charming, shady, cool grounds of Rockome Gardens, a well known theme park in the midst of Illinois Amish Country. Great Bluegrass Music was featured on the stage all day and the cooks sampled their salsa, chili verde, and red chili with donations to the Kids from Amish Education as the benefit. Rockome Mayor Butch Phillips addressed the crowd during the presentation of the winners and all the chili cooks sounded off that they would like to return next year in hopes to make it a Regional. I might add that if you have never been to Rockome and the Arcola/Arthur Illinois Amish area you should put it on your list to do. Also see http://www.rockome.com/. for their summer/fall events schedule. Saturdays are a great day to visit all of the attractions in the area.

Cookoff results as follows:

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SALSA (8 judges - 9 entries)

4^th Les Eastep, Rochester, Illinois 6 pts

3^rd Sherrie Sutton, Indianapolis, Indiana 7 pts.

2^nd Tom Calvert, Taylorville, Illinois 8 pts.

1^st Dearl Thomas, Clinton, Illinois 9 pts. (Will represent Rockome at the I.C.S. World Salsa Championship)

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CHILI VERDE (8 judges – 7 entries)

4^th Aldo Klinghammer, Taylorville, Illinois 7 pts.

3^rd Diane Lentz Nicholasville, Ky. 8 pts.

2^nd Butch Sutton, Indianapolis, Indiana 11 pts.

1^st Paul Wessing, Farmersville, Illinois, 12 pts. (Will represent Rockome at the I.C.S. Chili Verde World Championship)

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RED CHILI (10 judges – 13 entries)

5^th Les Eastep, Rochester, Illinois 5 pts

4^th Larry Lentz Nicholasville, Ky 6 pts.

3^rd Aldo Klinghammer, Taylorville, Illinois 7 pts.

2^nd Mary Thomas, Clinton, Illinois 10 pts. (Tie)

1^st Tom Calvert, Taylorville, Illinois 10 pts.(Won Tie) (Will represent the Rockome at the I.C.S. Last Chance Regional at the 2007 World Championship)

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Thanks to Rockome & Coke for a great day,

Jim & Joni Deere Chief Judges

Angie Thorton Scorekeeper

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1^st Annual Long Island District Chili Cookoff

Sunday was the 1^st Annual Long Island District Chili Cookoff in Patchogue, NY at Morgan's Swan River Marina. We could not have asked for a nicer day. The temps were in the low 80's with a light breeze off the Swan River. Brandon Ress did a fine job of organizing this cookoff and had 9 cooks sign up with the ICS. In fact, all of the cooks were from Long Island and were first time competitors in the ICS, though some of them had competed in BBQ cookoffs. In all, we had some very enthusiastic cooks. Red Chili and Salsa were the categories that were official this year.

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Salsa – 7 entries

5^th – Ronan Shaked

4^th – Carol Shaekd

3^rd – Brian Collins

2^nd – Jimmy Bifulco

1^st – Ken Murphy

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Red Chili – 8 entries

5^th – Jimmy Bifulco

4^th – Brian Collins (lost tiebreaker for 3rd)

3^rd – Wes Sprague

2^nd – Carol Shaked

1^st – Raymond Barry

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I am not sure who was happier, Raymond or his wife, but they said they will keep on coming to the cookoffs and hope to get out to the Last Chance in Omaha.

We hope to see more of the cooks. They all said they had a great time. This was a very nice cookoff and we hope to see more cooks there next year.

By Audrey Falkowski

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Dr Ed Pierczynski's Garage Cookoff Results; (Just For FUN)
10. Harry Robinson
9. John Metcalf
8. Ron Judson
7. Richard Drum
6. Ed P (with a bunch of consonants)
5. (would have been Jim Stoddard....always beat Ed...) George Swick
4. Ron Boserenk (sorry, bad spelling, bad cell phone connection in North Maui.....)
3. Maud Swick (husband beater...)
2. Margo Knudson (stole JR's recipe...)
1. Bob Hall (never caught a fish in South Padre....)
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And that's all I know.
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Jim, reporter on the scene in West Maui.
Aloha, Mahola, and good night.

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Clarksville Missouri Regional

June 2nd is going to be a great day in Clarksville.

The numbers are looking just alittle short but I know you are coming.

Got a few new cooks to Clarksville.

Let me know if you need anything.

Linda

lwblakey@sbcglobal.net

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Bronco Belly Bustin' Chili Fiesta (NH State)

Web-site Updated

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Our web site, http://chilicats.com/, is finally up-to-date with photos from the last several years. Although it is heavily Northeast-centric, many of you traveling cooks may find yourself in a photo or too. Enjoy!

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Hope to see many of you at the Bronco Belly Bustin' Chili Fiesta (NH State) this Saturday, June 2nd.

--Mike Kropp

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Millville Summer Fest District Chili Cookoff

I'm writing to you to let you know that on the date of the Millville,NJ Summer Fest District Chili Cookoff, 7-7-07, it will also be my wife Kat's 2nd coming of her 25th birthday!

I'd like to get as many cooks there as possible to help her celebrate this major event.

For more info on this VERY cool cookoff, please go to:

http://WWW.chilicookoff.Com/event/Event_Display.asp?EventID=1994

The Millvillians are a very hip group! The music in the past years has been tremendous and the crowds large, so I know we're going to have a great time.

I hope to have a cake, and a few other surprises (she's gonna kill me)...so if you can come, I know she'd be happy to share her cake with YOU!

Stay well,

Warm and Fuzzy (Mad) Mike

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