"I just wanted to invite everyone to the 1st Annual Chillee Chilii & BBQ Cookoff on January 24th and 25th, held at VFW Post 2427, 14406 Alice Rd in Tomball. This is benefitting the Jason/Marty Martinez Family Medical Expenses. Friday Night is a Soup Off, $5 and soup for the Cook’s Feed (Soup may be prepared in advance), 7 PM Turn-in. On Saturday we have Beef/Chicken Fajitas, $15, 12 Noon Turn-in, Chicken, $15, 1 PM Turn In, Novice Chili*, $20, 2 PM Turn-in, CASI Chili (Chili Grind Only), $20, 2 PM Turn-in, and Pork Ribs, $15, 3 PM Turn-in. During the day Saturday, we will be having a silent auction, raffles, a motorcycle/car show, and an Arts & Crafts show. Saturday night, we will be hosting a live band public dance in the VFW Hall, cooking teams will be comp’d passes. On Sunday, we will be having CASI Chili, $20, 12 Noon Turn-in, and Brisket, $15, 1 PM Turn-in. We are expecting public turn out for this event and are asking the BBQ teams to donate a precooked brisket and the chili teams to bring extra chili for the committee to sell to the public. Pre-registration can be done with a Visa/Mastercard credit or debit card at http://pwpcasi.org/, and credit/debit cards will be accepted for on-site registration. Full Flyer and additional information/directions may be found at http://pwpcasi.org/." (Bob Horan)

"Playa De Oro-Rocky Point, Mexico
Some 16 of us Gringos braved beautiful skies, sandy beaches, and plus 70 degree weather to cook chili against a backdrop of gently rolling waves and the Sea of Cortez. Members of our over half empty RV park gobbled up most if not all of our chili. Two of them made the effort to become cooks and tomorrow on the beach, we¢re all going to have a 4 o¢clock "chili dog happy hour". We have leftover chili from the judging and all the cooks and members of the park are invited. (We might have to make more chili but we¢ll worry about that tomorrow.

I think we raised a little over $1350 Pesos ($100.00 American) for the charity (a school) in cup sales at 20 Pesos a pop. We also picked up a sponsor, (Al Copones) a local bar and restaurant for this and future events. They gave us gift certificates for all the winners.

This was CHOPPS "Pod Cookoff" and as such we accomplished several goals. We cooked chili and got some points. We raised money for a charity. We created some awareness of ourselves in the community and we completed a requirement for seating at the GP Meeting. Just as important as anything else, we had fun.

There are three more cookoffs scheduled in Rocky Point this year; Manny¢s on Saturday, the Baja on Sunday, and JJ¢s Cantina on May 9th. For those who might be teetering on coming to Rocky Point because of trouble in other areas, be advised that we don¢t seem to have trouble here. Maybe because we¢re not located near a major US city. Or maybe reports are embellished. Anyhow, have fun where ever you cook.

P.S. Myrl Coultus won the cookoff and a whole bunch of us beat Virgil Johnson." (Dave Garner)