Halloween Costume Party - Chili Cook-off

Halloween Chili Cook-off and Costume Party

Which is Scarier? Your Costume
or Your Chili?

Saturday, October 27, 5:00 - 9:00PM

Location: Bayview Marina, on the pavilion behind the marina office.

Event Flyer (opens in a new window)

Event Wrap-up:
We had a great turnout for our event - we were close to sinking the pavilion! The weather was perfect - cool enough to enjoy hot chili, yet not too cool for the plaid skirt, bare midriff schoolgirl costume, worn by the winner of the award for... Best Men's Costume.

As the music played, people tasted the thirteen chili entries (a perfect number for Halloween, eh?) and five salsa entries, and marked ballots with their favorites. Once the judges finished the blind scoring, bellies were full, and the people's votes were tallied, the trophies and awards were presented. Clearly, the night belonged to Gina ("Git R Done") Hibbs, followed closely by JK (our first place winner for both brisket and ribs in the June barbecue cook-off). Several people commented that, though some chilis stood out as excellent, they were pleasantly surprised to find that all the entries were quite good. JK said he'd have considered any of them perfectly fine, if served to him in a restaurant. Hey, well done, guys!

After the awards, the kids took turns whacking at a candy-filled piñata, then scrambled on the ground for their share of the goodies. Then it was time for the grown-up's piñata. Tipped off about the contents, Amanda Shirley enthusiastically brought it down with a single mighty softball-player swing. It didn't quite spill out, but was too wounded to re-hang for more punishment. So, we tossed the booty - plastic mini-bottles of spirits (get it?) - into the eager crowd. Some were caught on the fly, others on the first bounce off someone's head (oops, sorry!). Once the piñata was empty, there was a brisk bit of trading activity, as folks swapped for their preferred brands of "treats".

Contest Results:

Judge's Choice Chili was judged blind, using numbered sample cups. Judges gave each contestant an overall score (0-10), after considering: Color/Appearance, Aroma, Taste, Consistency, and Aftertaste.

Judge's Choice Chili

1st Place	Sean and Gina Hibbs ("Git R Done Chili")
2nd Place	JK ("Chili Beef")
3rd Place	Chris and Kim Rogers ("Kitchen Sink")

The People's Choice Chili, Homemade Salsa, Best Presentation and Best Costume awards were determined by a popular vote by the attendees.

People's Choice Chili

1st Place	Sean and Gina Hibbs ("Git R Done Chili")
2nd Place	JK ("Chili Beef")
3rd Place	JK ("Chili Chicken")

Best Homemade Salsa

1st Place	Sean and Gina Hibbs ("Git R Green")
2nd Place	JK
3rd Place (Tie)	Bettye Ann Howell and Karen Rodarte

Best Table Presentation:
John Lambert and Cathy Mitchell ("Greased Lightening")

Best Costumes

Men's	Terry
Women's (Tie)	Deborah Brantley and Melodie Sidwar
Girl's	Karli
Boy's	Alex and Antonio

I want to thank all our fine cooks, and those who came in costumes, for their participation. I want to credit Bettye Ann for adding the salsa contest, and for the popular adult piñata idea. And I wish to commend Julie Nelson, Bettye Ann, Cathy and John, Monica and Jill, for their hard, heavy work (pre-planning, then hauling and cleaning chairs and tables, decorating, cleaning up, etc.) that made the event possible. And, of course, our thanks to Bayview Marina, for use of the facility, and for all the "little" things their people take care of, in the process of getting ready for our events.