THURSDAY - March 15, 2007

4th Annual March Into Spring Chili Cookoff

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Hi cooks!

We still haven't heard from some of you - and we're sure you don't want to miss the 4th Annual March Into Spring Chili Cookoff on Saturday, April 14, 2007!!

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The event continues to grow, and as a result, this year we've moved to a new location. Thanks to the Germantown Hard Times Cafe for their support of our event for the first 3 years. This year, cooks will set up in a large parking lot with close parking for your vehicle. As you check in, breakfast will be provided! Fantastic goody bags for the cooks - you don't want to miss these! Downtown Mt. Airy is full of great shops - please plan to stop by some of them while you are here.

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What about the prizes? Better again this year!!

Traditional red: Southwest Airline Vouchers, $250, and a propane stove - all for first place! Cash prizes for 2nd ($150) and 3rd ($75) as well.

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Verde: $200 and a propane stove! 2nd place - $100 and 3rd place - $50

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Salsa: $100 and a gift basket for first place, $50 for 2nd and $25 for third.

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There are still MORE prizes coming in!!

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If you've cooked with us before, you know we have had an evening turn-in - not this year! Turn in times are12 for salsa, 1:00 for verde, and 2:00 for red.

Chief judge this year is none other than the 1997 World Champion Steve Falkowski! Audrey Falkowski will be serving as our scorekeeper. Help us welcome the Falkowskis to Maryland!

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Please register at www.chilicookoff.com and send payment in ASAP. Additional information on health department regulations will be sent to you at that time.

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Hope to see you there!
Kim Eckley - 2006 Chairman

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Barbara Corbalis - 2007 Chairman

15078 Frederick Road
Woodbine, MD 21797
410-489-0897
corbalis@verizon.net

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Fountain Hills Cook Off

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Hi Everyone,

I wanted to drop a note to everyone who attended the Fountain Hills Cook Off this year. The weather did us right this year!!!!!!! What a welcome change from the down pour everyone had to deal with last year!!!! Let's hope for such beautiful weather next year! Thank you so much to all the cooks. I know it's hard for you to travel out here but it is greatly appreciated. Also, a thank you to all the judges for taking the time to be a part of the event this year.

The event was great! It's everything we wanted. This was made in part by everyone doing their PEOPLE"S CHOICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had a big turn out and we didn't run out until the last little bit. We appreciate all of you pitching in to help.

Congratulations to all the winners of Chili by the Fountain! Good luck in advancing to the big one!

Once again a big thanks to everyone involved in this years event. I wish all the cooks good luck in their future cook offs and I hope to see all you again next year in beautiful Fountain Hills Arizona!

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Erin Heasley

Events Coordinator

Plaza Fountainside

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WEDNESDAY - March 14, 2007

DVRCC - Dave Lorenz

Hello Everyone,

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Get ready because this thing is going to be HUGE!!! Here are two articles from the Courier Post Online. You should be able to click the link.

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Harrison chili festival planned for April 21

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Chili cook-off set; contestants sought

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Desert Rat Regional - Phil Moroski

I have been asked if I was gonna raise the prize money this year, like I did last year. The answer is NO. I raised the Prize Money by $300.00 this year. I was asked last year WHY the GREEN Chili was treated like a borrowed mule. Well, I dug deep in MY pocket and raised the GREEN prize to equal those of RED, $500.00/$300.00/$100.00
As of 18 March I DONOT have 20 RED cooks or 7 GREEN cooks. Please let me know if you plan on cooking at the Desert Rat Regional this 24 March. For ALL the details check out WWW.Post476.Homestead.com
Thanks and be seeing you down the trail. Phil

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CENTRAL OHIO CHILI FESTIVAL - Chuck Hoff

We did a mailing to cooks on Monday 3/11 with all the information and applications regarding the chili cookoff at Beulah Park on 4/14/2007. I just realized that the batch of labels ICS sent us didn't contain any addresses for cooks from Illinois.

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Please forgive me. I do not want to offend any of my friends in the great chilli state of Illinois. Since it's to too late to get new labels for Illinois from Vickie and do another mailing feel free to contact me or Jessica Hamlin at Beulah Park for information and applications or sign up at the ICS web site.

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Chuck Hoff

drgbreath@sbcglobal.net

(614) 231-0890

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Jessica Hamlin

jhamlin@beulahpark.com

(614) 817-9600 ext. 1304

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UAW Region1 Vets Regional Cook-off - Leo Buk

The UAW Region1 Vets Regional Cook-off -March 24th-Warren, Michigan. is in NEED of 5 more Red chili cooks. We DO NOT want to loose this chance for the winners to go to the World. This was the North Central Regional and has been around for years. It is now the Veternans Council out of UAW Region 1. We are indoors and we want this to grow over the coming years.

As of now we have 15 Red, 8 Verde, 8 Salsa. Your odds are very good If you can make it, Please e-mail or call Leo at leobuk@wowway.com or 734 231 0618

Hope to see you there,

Co-chair Leo Buk

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Northern AZ Back to Backs - Paul Whitney

Now that the Central Arizona cookoffs have come to a successful conclusion, it's time to start thinking about the Northern Arizona Back to Backs! By the way, a big thank you to the chairman, committees and Swenbergers for an exceedingly well run Chili By the Fountain Regional in Fountain Hills, AZ and the Valley of the Sun Regional in Ahwatukee, AZ. But back to the subject at hand. Join us up in Flagstaff, Az on June 8 for the cooks party at PJ's on the property of Inn and Suites Hotel on Route 66. The hotel runs a happy hour with free beer from 5 until 6:30 and then cooks and friends get the place for a catered Fajitas dinner by Salsa Brava, one of our sponsors. Room rates at the Inn and Suites are $69.99 for a regular room and $79.99 for a 2 room suite. All rooms have refrigerators. After enjoying a great day at Thorpe Park cooking the 24th Annual Route 66 Regional, you'll then take a drive through the world's largest ponderosa pine forest to Payson, AZ, right at the base of the Mogollon Rim. On Sunday, June 10, you'll take part in the 36th Arizona State Championship Chili Cookoff, with great prize money and trophies at the Mazatzal Casino. For those of you flying in, your only 80 miles from Phoenix, but much cooler. I hope you'll be joining us this year for another great set of cookoffs!

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============================

If you have articles for posting to Dicks Chili World BLOG, they can be emailed to GWTWChili@aol.com

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Tell your other Chilihead Friends about the BLOG and how it works.

TUESDAY - March 13, 2007

Back-to-Back South Florida Regionals - Inexcusably Late - by Sergei Kowalchik

Before I begin, I need to apologize to all the great cooks who participated in our Back-to-Back South Florida Regional Cookoffs (way back in February) for the tardiness of this.

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Shortly after the cookoffs, I wrote up the below posting to send to Dick's Chili World. I did it before leaving on a trip where I knew my internet access was going to be "crude" at best, and I sent it…or so I thought.

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I returned around a week ago and began the inevitable massive "catch-up" of pending issues. By yesterday, I had time to go to Dick's BLOG site, to get up to date on the world of chili…but I could not find my posting.

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Knowing how thorough Dick is, I started investigating possible SNAFUs on my part; I eventually found it in my Outlook Drafts. What can I say? Perhaps age is showing…but as they taught us as Plebes back at the Naval Academy: "No Excuse, Sir!"

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Now for the stray posting:

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Thanks to the great participation from over 30 ICS cooks (and not all the same cooks on both days), on February 11^th and 12^th, we had our best and most successful Back-to-Back Regional Cookoffs to date here in South Florida. For the record, the history and progression has gone something like this:

2003 – First time Districts, not Back-to-Back

2004 – Back-to-Back Districts; neither meets Regional criteria

2005 – Back-to-Back Districts; both meet Regional criteria for the following year

2006 – Back-to-Back Regionals; Finals Table only in all competitions

2007 – Back-to-Back Regionals; Preliminary and Finals Tables in Red at both, Finals only in Verde and Salsa (however, with 19 Verdes at Key Largo and 16 at Pinecrest, lookout for next year…)

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But enough of history.

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After the embarrassingly grotesque aberration of the previous weekend (unfortunately viewed by the entire World watching the Super Bowl), the weather was back to what you expect form South Florida in February – pretty. Additionally, the respective organizers did their customary magnificent job; result – two superb cookoffs and a great time by all!

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Chili in the Village

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On February the 11^th at Pinecrest Gardens (the former Miami Parrot Jungle, about which I never tire of quoting Marilyn Frederick's description: "the most beautiful place I've ever cooked chili"), over 30 ICS cooks turned out to do their part for "Informed Families" (our charity), as well as having fun while giving the crowd a taste of what really great chili is all about.

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Complementing the ICS cooks, there were 19 restaurants and other institutions (Baptist Hospital comes to mind), competing for "Best of Miami" as judged by the crowd that had purchased "tasting kits". In addition to adding to the festivities, this group provided an abundance of chili to the crowd, while ICS cooks worked on theirs - a win-win situation all around.

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Now for the winners:

Booth/Showmanship

3^rd South of the Border – Richard Chauvin (otherwise known as the "I" in ICS)

2^nd Hellfire – Cathy Carpenter

1^st Colorado Cowboy Chili – Chris Everhardt (for the umpteenth time)

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Salsa

5^th Richard Chauvin

4^th Christine Johnson

3^rd Bob Kyle

2^nd Mick Joplin

1^st Tim McAfee - will represent Chili in the Village at the 2007 WCCC

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Chili Verde

5^th Wes Carlson

4^th Bob Kyle

3^rd Scott Navaroli

2^nd Gail Kyle

1^st Richard Chauvin - Will represent Chili in the Village at the 2007 WCCC

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Traditional Red Chili

Finals Table:

Mick Joplin, Doug Roy, Bob Hall, David Lorenz, Billie Hamilton, Scott Navaroli, Richard Chauvin, Ron Dahlgren, Wes Carlson, Bob Kyle

5^th Mick Joplin

4^th Richard Chauvin

3^rd Doug Roy

2^nd Dave Lorenz

1^st Bob Hall – Will represent Chili in the Village at the 2007 WCCC

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Florida Keys Chili Cookoff

On February 12^th at Rowels Marina in Key Largo (the northernmost of the beautiful Florida Keys), with many following their appearance the day before at Pinecrest Gardens, once again over 30 ICS cooks ventured forth into the fray of competition. Organized by and for the benefit of the Rotary Club, the second outstanding cookoff rounded out the back-to-back weekend of chili in South Florida.

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A great crowd showed up at the lovely waterfront location (Florida Bay side) to enjoy the festivities, listen to music, taste chili, drink adult beverages (those of legal age) and contribute to a great organization that does so much for those in need. Once again, to complement the ICS cooks, over 20 "Amateur Cooks" (the organizers' term, not mine) came out to help feed the crowd as well as be judged (by a separate panel of judges).

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Now for the winners:

Booth/Showmanship

3^rd Texas Tucson

2^nd Nach UR Mama's

1^st Colorado Cowboy Chili (that name sounds familiar…)

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Salsa

5^th Jenny Windsor

4^th Bob Kyle

3^rd Christine Johnson

2^nd Richard Chauvin

1^st Kim Swieczek – Will represent the Florida Keys Cookoff at the 2007 WCCC

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Note.

We had a hiccup when the winners were announced from the stage. Specifically, I had transcribed the names backwards and announced them as such.

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For this I take full responsibility and apologize to those affected. Fortunately, our ace scorekeeping team picked up the mistake and we were able to rectify it; however, that does not help those who were disappointed - sorry.

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Chili Verde

5^th Pam Nelson

4^th Walt Hunter (a key person responsible for the cookoff started)

3^rd Scott Navaroli

2^nd Bob Kyle

1^st "Mad Mike" Freeman Will represent the Florida Keys at the 2007 WCCC

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Traditional Red Chili

Finals Table:

Gail Kyle, Walt Hunter, Tony & Cathy Ball, Christine Johnson, Tim McAfee, Michael Freeman, Dave Lorenz, Philippe Reynaud, Doug Johnson, James Boswell, Ray Fredrick

5^th Walt Hunter

4^th Gail Kyle

3^rd James Boswell

2^nd Michael Freedman

1^st Dave Lorenz – Will represent the Florida Keys Cookoff at the 2007 WCCC

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Congratulations to all the winners and a huge thanks to all the cooks for participating and making our two cookoffs what they have become. Looking forward to seeing everybody back in 2008 – barring something totally unexpected, they will be the weekend following the Super Bowl, so mark your calendars.

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Hoping to see everybody at the 2007 WCCC,

Sergei Kowalchik

Chief Judge

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Delaware Valley Regional - Dave Lorenz

Here's another article about the Delaware Valley Regional. This really promises to be a huge event, 25K – 30K spectators.

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HARRISON TWP. Three former members of the Philadelphia Eagles football team have been named judges for the second annual Delaware Valley Regional International Chili Society Cook-Off and Festival set for April 21.

Former Eagles Irving Fryar, Mike Chalenski and Mike Mamula will judge the chili cook-off at the Gloucester County 4H Fairgrounds here.

In addition to the cook-off, the festival will feature live music, a classic car showcase, pony rides, balloon bounces, face painting and a variety of youth activities.

There will be a wing eating contest officiated by Gloucester County resident Bill "El Wingador" Simmons, former champion of WIP Radio's Wing Bowl.

Cost to attend at the gate is $15 per carload or $10 per motorcycle. Advance tickets are now on sale at all 13 Gloucester County locations of The Bank at the discounted rate of $10 per carload and $5 per motorcycle.

For additional information, visit www.delvalchilicookoff.com.

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============================

If you have articles for posting to Dicks Chili World BLOG, they can be emailed to GWTWChili@aol.com

============================

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SUNDAY - March11, 2007

Two Days of Phoenix Back2Backs are in the record books.

Winners list only for now. More in the next few days.

Chili by the Fountain Regional--- March 10, 2007

Salsa - 12 Entries

HM Wayne Ronsman AZ

HM Jim Stoddard TX

3rd Skip Cooley NV

2nd Al Henry CO

1st Eddie LaCross AZ

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VERDE - 18 Entries

HM Wes Carlson IL

3rd Ron Judson CA

2nd LeeRoy Watson AZ

1st Kay Rook CO

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ICS RED - 24 Entries

3rd Eddie LaCross AZ

2nd Susie Baumberger CA

1st Paul Whitney AZ

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Valley of the Sun Regional-- March 11, 2007

SALSA - 10 Entries

HM Wayne Ronsman AZ

HM Bonnie Bootz AZ

3rd Kay Rook CO

2nd Bryan Burgoz AZ

1st Skip Cooley NV

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VERDE - 15 Entries

HM Jim Stoddard TX

HM Bonnie Bootz AZ

3rd Eddie LaCross AZ

2nd Wes Carlson IL

1st Paul Whitney AZ

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ICS RED - 21 Entries

5th Al Henry CO

4th Bob Plager CO

3rd Bonnie Tomasek CO

2nd Shelia Beller CA

1st Dione Cooley NV

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Submitted by Scorekeeper: Nancy Swenberger & Chief Judge: Dick Swenberger

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