Buenos noticias! (Hear Ye, Hear Ye!) The 16th annual Henniker Rotary Club Fire on the Mountain Chili Fest is officially over and it was a blast! A perfect sunny day at Pats Peak, low humidity, lots of chili and multiple activities to keep the attendees busy all afternoon.
Winners in the Amateur Category were: First Place Judges Award: Uncle Box’s Chili (Cedric Woodbury); Second Place Judges Award: A Vicarious Verde (Erika Leveroni); and Third Place Judges Award: Swamp Donkey Kreations (Dave Kelly). The Amateur People’s Choice Award went to A Vicarious Verde and the Best Booth Display for Amateurs was awarded to Bob Blackwell and The Three Amigos. Thirty-two Amateur Chili Makers presented their chilis to the voting public.
In the Professional Category were: First Place Judges Award for the second year in a row: Team Taco Beyondo (Adam Mosher); Second Place Judges Award: Chartwells at New England College (Shawn Jackson) and Third Place Judges Award: The Birches of Concord. Team Taco Beyondo for the second year in a row also took home The People’s Choice Award and The 900 Chili Crew (Daniel Gove) received the Best Booth Award.
There are lots of people to thank for making this event a success including our sponsors: Ayer & Goss Fuels, Colby Hill Inn, Davis & Towle Insurance Company, Dunkin’ Donuts of Henniker, Edmunds Ace Hardware, Grappone Automotive, Henniker Crushed Stone, Henniker Family Dentistry, Henniker Pharmacy, Henniker Veterinary Hospital, Merrimack County Savings Bank, Morse Sporting Goods, New England College and TDS Telecom, as well as our media partners, Granite Quill Publications and 92.5 The River.
Many thanks also to the 40 chili makers, vendors, volunteers from Hillsborough/Deering and John Stark High School DECA clubs, White Birch Community Center, Henniker Community School and the New England College Sports Teams, aswell as friends and family of the Henniker Rotary Club and especially, our hosts Pats Peak, without whom we could never pull off such a major event.
To our judges: Chef Nicole Barreira, Executive Chef, Great American Restaurant Group (Cactus Jacks/TBones and the Copper Door), Rick Broussard, Editor, NH Magazine and Adam Parker, Corporate Chef, (Fratello’s Italian Grille and the Homestead Restaurants).
Most of all, thank you to all who attended Chili Fest. You have helped us raise funds that will go out into thecommunities we serve and to people in need around the world. As Rotarians, we feel a great sense of accomplishment about the success of this event, but we share that with you because without your support, Chili Fest would not happen at all. We hope you had “feliz degustación” (happy tasting) at this year’s event. We’d love to have you join our efforts. If interested, contact Lisa Hustis, Membership Chair at ehustis@comcast.net.
Steve Neuhoff,
rotary president,
and Marc McMurphy,
chili fest chairman