SUNDAY - June 7, 2009

RIVER CITY REGIONAL

Called in by Dione Cooley

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SALSA

3^rd Susie Decker CA

2^nd Voni Medcraft NV

1^st Lynn Pruett CO

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CHILI VERDE

3^rd Voni Medcraft NV

2^nd Robert Santos CA

1^st Ron Judson CA

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ICS RED CHILI

3^rd Harry C Robinson CA

2^nd Ed Pierczynski NV

1^st Gerry Lind CA

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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL

Called in by Dione Cooley

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SALSA

3^rd Karen Watson CA

2^nd Rick Decker CA

1^st Ron Boisseranc CA

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CHILI VERDE

3^rd Jason Beaver CA

2^nd Susie Decker CA

1^st Jim Watson CA (Completes Hat Trick)

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ICS RED CHILI

3^rd Steve McIntire CA

2^nd Richard Williams CA

1^st Ron Boisseranc CA (Completes Hat Trick)

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Tustin Street Fair and Chili Cookoff

It was a perfect day for a chili cookoff---a little overcast and cool, with the promise of sunny skies later in the day. Huge crowds were expected to attend this 25th Annual event and People's Choice Chili was the dish of the day. There were probably a total of 60 or so cooks, although only 21 of them chose to compete in the ICS-sanctioned portion of the cookoff. Of those, 12 were brand-new ICS members, 3 were cooks who only compete once a year in this cookoff and 6 were folks that I recognized from the regular chili trail. This type of event is of great importance to the ICS, generating new memberships; hopefully some of those folks will be bitten by the chili bug and we'll see them at other events during the year.

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As for the huge crowds, by 11:00 when the event officially opened to the public, it was nearly impossible to walk down the street at a steady pace. The path was blocked by the hungry throngs clamoring for the chili furnished by the cooks. Ultimately the crowd was estimated at over 40,000 people! One of our regular ICS cooks, who said that he had brought 18 gallons of chili, was out of chili by 1:30 or so. We were told that the Weinerschnitzel team brought 100 gallons and we know that the Tustin Brewing Company, who regularly wins the People's Choice contest here, usually serves about 90 gallons. People willingly paid $1 each for tasting tickets; many folks were walking around with handfuls of tickets to taste their favorites.

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The cookoff offered prize money this year for the first time, giving $500 for first place, $300 for second and $200 for third. This encouraged participation from a couple of regular ICS cooks who had never cooked here before. Plans are in the works to add a salsa contest for next year, possibly an ICS-sanctioned salsa contest as well as an open division. The hospitality to the judges is outstanding. We arrived shortly after 7:00 am and were greeted with Starbucks coffee and nice platters of assorted muffins and pastries. Delicious box lunches were delivered around noon with assorted sandwiches, chips, fruit and a cookie. The Tustin Brewing Company had donated a keg of a fine pilsner beer; sodas and water were also available to the judges throughout the day.

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The people from the City of Tustin with whom we worked, Donna Peery and Sarah King, were extremely well-organized, flexible, friendly and accomodating. A total of 14 ICS judges were joined by 5 Tustin VIP judges---2 City Council members, 2 Chamber of Commerce members, and the Chief of Police---to choose the winning cooks. We (Bill and Karen Ray) were assisted by Dennis and Allene Macklin, who will take the reins as Chief Judge and Chief Scorekeeper of this cookoff next year. We appreciate that our leader, Carol Hancock, took time from her always-busy schedule to spend some time with us in the afternoon. Carol's presence always enhances an event, especially now, with the site of the upcoming World's Championship still undetermined. At the end of the day, the winners were:

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Traditional Red Chili:

5th, Jennifer Porter Goodman

4th, Bill Duff, a previous winner of this cookoff

3rd, Kenneth King

2nd, Mike Hulka, a previous winner of this cookoff, with 28 points today

1st, David Thomas, his first time competing in this cookoff, with 29 points today

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Congratulations to all of the cooks. You were all winners.

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ARIZONA Back 2 Backs

June 13 & 14

Flagstaff & Payson, AZ

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ROUTE 66 Regional & ARIZONA ICS STATE

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If you are coming to either of these Chili Cookoffs,

PLEASE Sign-Up on the ICS Web Site.

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We need a count of the number of Cooks so that we have enough Judges to Judge.

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