MONDAY - July 21, 2008

Northern California ICS Homestyle Chili Contest

Call for chili entries!

The Fairfield Downtown Association and Fire It Up Events are calling for entries to find the West Coast's "Best Homestyle Chili Cook" to compete in the Western Cooking Tour contest on Sunday August 17, 2008 for trophies and prize money. Entry forms must be submitted by August 10, 2008. To get your entry form visit -
http://westcoastbbqchampionships.com/forms

If you are a self-proclaimed ChiliHead and live in the Western United States, you are invited to enter this Homestyle Chili event. This event is approved, but not sanctioned, by the ICS and is open to anyone. ICS membership is NOT required and current ICS members are invited to cook. It's experimental and just for fun. In Homestyle chili, cooks are encouraged to get creative.

The chili contest is scheduled for the morning of Sunday August 17, 2008 and is just one part of the Fairfield Tomato Festival & West Coast BBQ Championships. Chili cooks who are also masters of the grill should consider entering the West Coast BBQ Championships Competitor division on Saturday August 16 – chili contestants who also want to enter this contest can do so at a significant discount.

Other activities for people to enjoy include live music, craft vendors, numerous varieties of heirloom tomato to taste, as well as many tomato related items for sampling, and a kids zone. The Fairfield Tomato Festival runs Saturday August 16, 2008 from 10am to 6pm and Sunday August 17, 2008 from 11am until 4pm, in downtown Fairfield, CA (West Texas streets from Pennsylvania to Union). Admission to the festival and plentiful parking are both free of charge.

The Fairfield Downtown Association is a volunteer-driven non-profit organization supporting the revitalization of Fairfield's historic town center. Fairfield is located mid-way between San Francisco and Sacramento on Interstate 80. In addition to being the corporate homes of Jelly Belly Candy Company and Guittard Chocolate Company, Fairfield is home to Anheuser Busch Brewery and Travis Air Force Base. For more information on the 17^th annual Tomato festival go to http://www.fairfielddowntown.com/ <http://www.fairfielddowntown.com/>

Fire It Up Events has numerous years of experience bringing people together and entertaining them. More than 500,000 people have attended events Fire It Up has been involved with in the last year alone! Fire It Up Event's goal is nothing short of making our events successful, profitable for our sponsors, enjoyable for our guests and memorable. For more info on the upcoming event please visit – http://www.westcoastbbqchampionships.com/
http://www.westcoastbbqchampionships.com/

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Fire on the Mountain Regional

17^th Annual

Snowshoe West Virginia - July 11 & 12

Another OUTSTANDING COOKOFF by the folks at Snowshoe!

Thanks to the direction and efforts of Chairman Cheryl Cassell, hundreds of volunteers and the backing of upper management starting with President Bill Rock, over 80 ICS cooks enjoyed a superb two day event at Snowshoe Mountain. The weather Gods also smiled for the second year in a row, producing a couple of "drop dead gorgeous" West Virginia mountain days; "CAVU" as we used to say back in my Navy flying days – Clear And Visibility Unlimited - with delightful temperatures to match.

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As has become tradition in the past few years, Friday included the Salsa and the Chili Verde competitions, followed by the Cooks' Party that evening at the Village Central. Saturday was the Traditional Red competition, with its $10,000 (yes, ten thousand dollar) First Prize.

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The competition both days was fierce, with easily well over 60% of the cooks being former WCCC Qualifiers, to include two Traditional Red World Champions. However, as is always the case with ICS, the camaraderie and relaxed "party atmosphere" prevailed throughout; chili cooks are the greatest and it just doesn't get any better for a hobby/avocation.

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Now for the results:

Salsa

3^rd Place Monica Parker

2^nd Place Laurin Lentz Staley

1^st Place Carrie Lentz Parker

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Chili Verde

3^rd Place Tonya Simmons

2^nd Place David Cobb

1^st Place Richard Chauvin

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Traditional Red Chili

4^th Place Kim Eckley

3^rd Place Laurin Lentz Staley

2^nd Place Janie Bauer

1^st Place Beverly King

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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS!

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However, the biggest winners were the "Challenged Athletes of West Virginia", the traditional charity for Fire on the Mountain, who had the largest dollar collection in the history of the cookoff. If you've never seen a video of what these athletes do, you're missing something special; big thanks to all the cooks who provided "People's Choice" and the crowd who contributed $$$.

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One final "attaboy" to the Snowshoe folks who did such a superb job! If you are a cook and have never cooked Fire on the Mountain, you owe it to yourself to do so; you won't regret it…as a matter of fact, it will be a special weekend and lasting "chili memory".

Sergei Kowalchik

Head Chili (Chief Judge)

P.S. Hope to see everybody at the WCCC

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Nevada Capital Regional

The overcast kept the temperatures down, and a nice breeze made Sunday perfect for cooking chili at the Nevada Capital Regional in Carson City. The results are as follows:

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Salsa:

3rd Dennis Robinson ID

2nd Geneva Holman NV

1st Dale Hart NV (first time cook)

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Chili Verde:

3rd Jim Beaver CA

2nd Dennis Robinson ID

1st Susie Decker CA

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Red Chili

3rd Voni Medcraft NV

2nd Scott Ruff NV (defending champion)

1st JR.Knudson CA (past world champion)

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