Chili was the hottest food in town as the Rotary Club of Stettler hosted a popular chili cook-off Sept. 13 that attracted more people than the club was expecting at Stettler United Church.
Tim Berry of Aspen Ford was declared the winner – Iron Chef Chili – as over 160 people dined on the not-too-hot-and-spicy chili and cast votes for the their favourite chili.
Darren Benson of Stettler Dodge was rated second while Barb Gano of Clearview School Division was third.
“It was a great event,“ said Rotary president Rob Stoutenberg.
“For a first-time event, we didn’t know how many people to expect.”
As it turned out most of the contestants ran out of chili.
Featuring 20 contestants from the local business community, 10 of them Rotary members, the event attracted 160 people and raised $1,615, said club member Aubrey Brown.
“We appreciate businesses and citizens for supporting this event to help us support local and global projects,” said Stoutenberg.
Organizers heard lots of great comments about the event and some suggestions for a cookie bake-off – early in the Christmas season and a wine-and-dessert event, he said.
“Much of the credit for the success of the event goes to Aubrey Brown,” said Stoutenberg.
After a summer of people away, many people felt the event was a great way to bring the business community together.
“It is back-to-business for many local owners, managers and staff so we selected an early-September event after back-to-school,” said Brown.
“Thanks to the participants, we built some goodwill and better friendships – it was a great time.”
Tim Berry was humbled in winning the coveted crown.
“I was really excited that we could raise a lot of money for Rotary,” said Berry who cooked up a pork and a beef chili.
“I think it was the ‘option’ that tipped the scale,” he said with a chuckle.
“We all had a good time and everyone had lots of fun.”
Rotary plans to host many more similar events in the coming months.