In addition to the Shelby Fall Festival, a Chili Cook Off was held on Saturday afternoon. The Chili Cook Off was organized by the Shelby Area Business Group (SABG) and all proceeds from the event went to the “Little Back Room” in Julie Britton’s shop, Coolest Shop in Town, to help fight breast cancer.
President of SABG Carolyn Clarke was enthusiastic with the turnout for the event. “We are so thrilled with how many people have come. We have been receiving exceptional community support. It has honestly been wonderful, I am so happy with everything here today,” said Clarke.
There were 18 contestants that were in the race for best chili. “Joining the Fall Festival and being a part of this has been great. It has just worked out very nicely and we will be doing this next year,” said Clarke.
Danette Detterman of Lexington, joined in the Chili Cook Off. “I heard about this event through Carolyn and I thought I would give it a shot. It is my first time ever entering a contest for my chili. I really enjoy cooking, especially sugar cookies. My chili took me about 24 hours to prep and complete. I wanted to join this event in honor of my friend Cris Adkinson,” said Detterman.
Chef Ashleigh Roth of Legends Sports Grill and Pub and graduate from The Art Institute of Washington, joined in the cook off. “I used a special blend that I learned in school and the total prep time for this chili only took me about 45 minutes. I love to cook anything and I like trying out new recipes,” said Roth.
Connie Roub, owner of Connie’s Place, had a special ingredient in her chili that offered a special bite. “I actually used bear meat in my chili. Everyone here has a special ingredient that they will use and I decided to use bear meat to give it something special. Our slogan is “Bear A Bite for the Breast Cancer Fight,” said Roub. “We are participating in the cook off to benefit Cathy Uplinger who is currently battling breast cancer,” said Roub.
Prizes were awarded to first, second, and third place winners of the Chili Cook Off. Community leaders picked the first round of winners and then the community chose who they thought had the best chili. The first place winners from the community leaders were awarded to “Avengers Chili” made by Daniel Seeley and Devin Batdorf, students at Pioneer Career and Technology Center. Seeley is a junior and Batdorf is a senior.
“Once I graduate, I would love to some day own my own restaurant. I just love cooking anything,” said Batdorf. Seeley wants to travel down the same path as Batdorf. “I want to own a diner someday. We had fun making this chili and we used four different kinds of peppers,” said Seeley.
The community members awarded “Pink Ribbon Chili”, made by Bethany Combs and Tiffany Clagg who are also students of Pioneer Career and Technology Center. Both girls are seniors this year and want to continue their education in culinary studies during college.
“I am thrilled that this chili won because we put a lot of hard work into it. We have been working on this chili since Wednesday,” said Combs. “We made this chili with chicken and white beans. We also added taco seasoning for a little extra flavor,” said Clagg.
Both set of winners were awarded $100 cash prize.
“We are so thrilled with how many people have come. We have been receiving exceptional community support.,” said SABG president Carolyn Clarke.
