The Chili and Dessert Cook-off was a great success. Twenty-two people entered chili and sixteen people made desserts. Over $2300 was raised to help the Underwood’s offset the cost of battling cancer.
The desserts entered varied greatly. The dessert that got the most comments for being unique and different was a mango pie made by Pearl Neuhaus. Pearl’s mango pie tied for fourth. There were several cheesecakes and pies. A cheesecake from Sydney Caswell got good reviews but fell just short of making it to the finals. A fancy dessert made by Brian Drohan was given high marks in presentation but it might have been too fancy for the judges because they did not like it enough to send it to the finals.
There was a noticeable difference in the preliminary judges and the finals judges. The Hopkins’ dessert scored the best in the preliminary round. It was given first place by two of the judges. However it ranked last in the finals. Judy Dilts came in second in the preliminary round and tied for fourth place in the finals. There was only one thing that the judges agreed on, and that was the dessert by Michael Crenshaw. All three finals judges and a preliminary judge ranked him second and one of the preliminary judges even ranked him first.
On the chili side of the house, there was also a large disparity between the preliminary and final judges. The 22 samples were randomly split between three tables for preliminary judging, with the best three samples from each table, nine chilis in all, going to the finals.
There was a clear winner at Table A where one sample received two first place and one third place scores, but neither the first or third place winners from that table received a single point in the finals. (The second place entry from Table A received a single second place vote in the finals and finished 5th overall.)
Table B was a much tighter race with two samples receiving a first and second place vote. One of these finished third, and the other sixth. The third place entry from Table B received a single first place vote in the preliminary judging but failed to receive any points in the Finals.
Table C is where by luck-of-the-draw all the best chilis seem to have landed. Two crowd favorites made by John Quigley and Brian Oliva did not make it to the finals. (John is the recognized "king of the grill" for all outdoor functions, and Brian used to compete in New England State Championships before moving to Cincinnati. He came in second in the Vermont State Chili Cook-off in 1989 and in 1990 placed third in the New Hampshire State Cook-off, third in the Cape Cod Regional Cook-off, fourth in Vermont, and fifth in Connecticut competing against up to 90 other cooks.) The clear winner from Table C finished second in the finals, and the second and third place entries finished first and fourth respectively.
There were several families who like to cook. Some made both chili and desserts and others made multiple desserts. This seemed to be the winning strategy. The Wahl’s made a chili which took first place, and a dessert. The Quigley’s showed up in force and it paid off. Bev Quigley made a dessert and John Quigley made two desserts and a chili. John’s efforts were rewarded with one of his pies being awarded third place. Aaron Willis made two desserts one of which was the cheesecake that took first place.
Final Results:
| Desserts: | |
| First Place: | Aaron Willis |
| Second Place: | Mike Crenshaw |
| Third Place: | John Quigley |
| Chili | |
| First Place: | Dave Wahl |
| Second Place: | Mike Muster |
| Third Place: | Janet Burns |
Overall the chili and dessert cook-off was a great success. We had a great time of fellowship and eating, and we raised money to help a family devoted to the church. Everyone did a great job cooking wonderful desserts and chili. Thank you to all the participants. Hopefully you learned what to do so you can win it all next year. Thank you to all the Singles who helped set-up and clean-up. Thank you Brian Oliva for all your help organizing the judging. Finally to give credit where it is due, thank you Columbus Church for giving me the idea to have a chili cook-off.