SOUTH FORK—Residents, hunters and contestants gathered at the South Fork Fire Department building on Thursday, Oct. 11 for the Annual South Fork Chili Cook-Off.
Over the past several years, the South Fork Visitor Center has hosted the event in the local community center and after an invite from the fire department, decided to change things up and hold it in a new location, in hopes of bringing even more people to the annual event.
The department cleared out the main room in the building to make way for tables and chairs as well as chili contestants and the results were very satisfactory. The night kicked off just after 5 p.m. with well more than people gathering at the doors throughout the evening for their chance to taste and vote for their favorite chili. This year welcomed 12 chili contestants who vied for the top spot in three categories, red, green and salsa with a theme of “Make me Sweat.”
Lisa Lipscomb, a local author created a poem for the night, highlighting the event’s theme in perfect prose. “Fall is upon us, we hope it will snow. We sure need the moisture, our river is low! We went through a summer, that just wasn’t wet. So, challenge our chili to ‘Make me Sweat’!” The poem was placed on one of the tables by the entrance and was enjoyed by all who attended.
The night was made possible through the combined efforts of the South Fork Fire Department who also participated in the contest, the Chapel of South Fork, who provided desserts and beverages for the attending crowd and several volunteers who helped serve, cleanup and count votes at the end of the night. “We couldn’t have done it without the help of so many people. It was a really great night,” said South Fork Visitor Center Director Mark Teders.
Tables were decorated to celebrate the fall season with colorful leaves, local wildlife figurines, glittery wall coverings and much more, giving the event a wonderful homey feeling with the mixture of delicious food filling the building with a wonderful aroma.
“It was a really fun night and we are always so happy to see people come out and enjoy some local flare,” said South Fork Kiwanis President Karen Miller as she helped pass out fresh cornbread made by Dwayne Powers.
Winners for the night are as follows: first place in the red category went to Rio Grande Club and Resort, with the South Fork Fire Department coming in second and the Chili Chicks coming in third.
For the green category, first place went to resident Joann White, second place to the Rio Grande Club and Resort and third place to Ramon’s Mexican Restaurant.
In the salsa category, first place went to Ramons Mexican Restaurant; second place was awarded to the Chili Chicks, and third place went to KoKo’s Food Truck.
The table decorating award went to the Chili Chicks. This year the more than $350 collected from admission was sent to Angels of America’s Fallen that helps emergency responder families throughout the country.