Note: We’re having a little trouble with the website. Our service has upgraded and either there are some glitches or I need a little time to study what is going on. We’ll get back to the normal formatting and pictures asap.



We’re on the road, heading home from Terlingua. After a long night of celebrating last evening, we just weren’t ready to leave early and push hard all day. We plan to be home late tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. As soon as we can put all of the information together, we’ll publish all of the TICC results, including the numbers from the rounds on Saturday.

It certainly was a blast, standing backstage and hearing Susan’s number called. I was really thrilled for her. As Boomer started to read the first place number, I was listening intently for either of our numbers but really hoping it would be hers.

Starting next week, I’ll be reporting to the CASI Halfway House for Retiring Directors. After completing the counseling program to help reintegrate back into chili cook society, I’ll be changing my name to Mr. Susan, preparing to drive the car and carry her bags, as we do our best to represent CASI to the best of our abilities.

NEWS

Kathryn Guzman writes a column for the North Texas e-News. Here’s a link to today’s article about TICC:

http://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_49790.shtml

RESULTS and UPCOMINGS

“We had a great day and turnout for the 4th Annual Stop-Drop-N-Roll CCO held at Bass Pro in Grapevine. Robin Williams, the event organizer, provided the following summary:

“Please accept my thanks and appreciation for your participation in the Stop-Drop-n-Roll Chili Cook Off.

Here are a few highlights of the overall event:

80 Chili Teams competed in 5 categories
Winner of CASI Chili: Super Dan Chili - Dan Campbell of Cedar Hill
Winner of CASI Show: Chief No Ponies - Dale Reinecker of Bedford
Winner of Novice Chili: Block Rockin' Chili - Michele Canada
Winner of People's Choice: Duckman Chili - Herman Family/Haber Family of Fort Worth/Benbrook
Winner of Novice Best Booth: Parrothead Chili - Brian Hovey & Justin Weldon of Abilene

Attendance is estimated at 3500
Cash donations as of 10.22.08: $64,615.84
In-kind donations (goods & services for the event): $58,950.00

Again, please accept my thanks for your help and participation at the 4th annual Stop-Drop-n-Roll Chili Cook Off.”

The formal list of CASI winners are:

Chili (42 judged)
1. Dan Campbell – Cedar Hill, TX
2. Stephanie Brockman – Irving, TX
3. Lee Brett – Euless, TX
4. Warren Albrecht – Grapevine, TX
5. Teena “T.J.” Friedel – Irving, TX
6. Sherree Duncan, N. Richland Hills, TX
7. Beth Moon – Hurst, TX
8. Duayne Price – Roanoke, TX
9. Tom Dozier – Irving, TX
10. Kelly Killingbeck – Euless, TX

Show (9 teams participated)
1. Chief No Ponies – Dale Reinecker – Bedford, TX
2. Trail Blazer – Beth Moon – Hurst, TX
3. American Legion Family – Karen Ducote – Bedford, TX

I personally want to thank everyone who helped me in the judging area. We not only had the 42 CASI entrants, but we also ran judging for 38 Novice division entries after that! What a day…can’t wait until next year! This is one event you don’t want to overlook!” (Ron Barnes)

“Thanks to the recruiting efforts of Chillini Pod members Johnny G and Randy Metz, we rounded up 4 first-timers ending up with 15 cooks for the Lombard Chili Cookoff. After a rainy start, the skies cleared and we cooked on a seasonably cool day with occasional wind gusts raising our Easy-ups serving as a reminder that it is fall in Chicagoland. The Metz family greeted the cooks with coffee and pastries, brought around Armadillo eggs to snack on, then served hotdogs to the cooks after turn-in. All-in-all it was a very enjoyable day. Our first time cooks and a couple first time judges let us know they would be cooking CASI in the future.

Top 10 finishers –

1st Bert Centers, Lombard, IL (won a tie for first and racked up 11 points this October)
2nd Mike Usiak, Chicago, IL (screwed by the ‘puter)
3rd Randy Metz, Lombard, IL (2 points for our host!)
4th Carol Gleason, Westmont, IL (Bert’s little sis – won the tie for fourth)
5th Charles ‘Bill’ Thomas, Naperville, IL (screwed by the ‘puter)
6th Brian Gustafson, Chicago, IL (Pat’s son grew a beard like dad’s, so we’re calling him Mini-me)
7th Kathy Martin, Huntley, IL
8th Pat, Gustafson, Chicago, IL
9th Cindy Metz, Lombard, IL (Thank you to our hostess)
10th Rick Geiger, Chicago, IL (Back on the trail)

With no general public attending the event the decision was made to cancel Showmanship.

Randy and Cindy Metz not only provided goodies for the cooks but also palette cleansers & beverages for the judging table and prizes for 1st through 10th chili. The Metz’s declined to be reimbursed for these items increasing the event’s net proceeds significantly which are being donated to the Lombard Food Pantry.

Thanks everyone who attended and/or donated their time to help make this one a success!” (Bill Thomas)

POTPOURRI

Happy Birthday to Monteia Davidson and Donna Conrad (Sunday) and Doug Hay and Jessie Waguespack (Monday).

“A smile is the shortest distance between two people.” - Victor Borge

News items and pictures for the CHN can be emailed to pepperdean@ctesc.net