Chili Cook off Winners and introducing WPN’s new board
Chili Cook-Off a Success!
Photos and Story by Keith Bentley
The late October day was overcast, but the rain held off, and WPN neighbors joined together at the Davis' lawn for our annual, highly competitive chili contest. Thirteen neighborhood chefs entered the contest and all the chilies were gratefully enjoyed by the attendees. A three judge panel took on the challenging job of sampling all and selecting the top three chilies. The judges were Smyrna Fire Chief Roy Acree, Mike Hickman, owner of Bountiful Baskets catering, and Rob Morneweck, owner of Grateful Bread. To show our appreciation, each judge received a gift bag containing, among other things, lots of antacid.
The winners were:
1st place- Robert Laverock- Just Chili
2nd place- Paul Sitz- Chili Chili Bang Bang Chili
3rd place- Lem Ward- Mean Old Man Chili
Winners received prize packages of wooden spoons, fall dish towels, Penzey’s special chili powder 9000, Trader Joe’s fall salsa and pumpkin spice crackers. They also received bronze, silver and gold medals for wearing around the neighborhood and showing off to friends. Robert, the first place winner, also received a special WPN 2019 Chili Contest apron and a WPN Chili Pot trophy. He will certainly be the envy of the neighborhood and celebrated widely (for the next year, anyway). In addition to the Chili prizes, three lucky attendees won raffle prizes contributed by Rev Coffee and Porch Light Latin Kitchen. WPN really appreciates the support of these local businesses.
A large barrel (the barrel was actually overflowing) of canned goods was donated for Must Ministries. A few neighbors who could not attend the contest also dropped off contributions to support the cause. Must Ministries really appreciated the neighborhood support.
The Chili Contest is also the official Annual Meeting of members for WPN. A new slate of officers were elected unanimously to a one year term. The new officers are:
Rob Allen- President
Kristy Barker- Vice President
Liz Davis- Secretary
Claudia Tullock- Treasurer
Following the election, there was an elaborate ceremony where outgoing president Keith Bentley literally turned over the keys to WPN to incoming president, Rob Allen. (These were actually the keys to our storage unit where we keep various supplies for our events) while the crowd cheered wildly (this may have only occurred in Keith’s head).
The event also marked the official transition of the Social Committee chair from Susan Bentley to Emily DeVane. Susan and Emily co-chaired this event and Emily has the reins going forward. They did a great job of organizing and planning the event. Everything ran smoothly and it was a big success. We are all very grateful to the long list of volunteers who helped make this event a success. Helping hands makes the work go quickly and it’s also way more fun. Thank you all so much!
Everyone should start practicing those recipes for next year’s contest. You, too, could win a WPN Apron and Chili Pot trophy and be the envy of the neighborhood.
