Ah, chili is in the air
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 23, 2016 12:42 AM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
"The Hot Scots" booth, manned by several members of First Presbyterian Church wearing kilts, won first place Saturday during the annual Really Chili Challenge. The team also placed first in best chili and people's choice.
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Katherine Caughron, 13, and Miriam Caughron, 15, pose beside the dinosaur sculptures and the Benton and Sons booth at the Really Chili Challenge to benefit the Soup Kitchen of Goldsboro Saturday in downtown Goldsboro.
It had to be the knees that made the difference, joked a kilt-wearing Bill Royall after the First Presbyterian Church's Hot Scots team swept the competition in Saturday's 10th annual Really Chili Challenge.
The team won best booth, the People's Choice Award raising $2,585.30, and best-tasting chili in the event -- a yearly fundraiser for the Community Soup Kitchen.
"We are speechless," Royall said. "We came out here to have fun. We had a great time, and we are just blessed to have received something for it.
"We are blessed and to know that the money is going to a great cause, we couldn't be happier."
Second place in the booth competition went to T.A. Loving Co.'s Cowabunga Chili with a Teenage Mutant Turtles theme and third place to the Goldsboro Kiwanis Club's Ghosts of Chilis Past graveyard themed booth.
Second place in the taste competition went to the BB&T Team, Great Beans of Fire.
Third place went to Immediate Care's Germ Kicking Chili.
For $5 people could sample all of the chili they wanted and vote for their favorite by making a donation at the team site.
Second place in the people's Choice Award went to Cornerstone Church that raised $1,954.80 and third place to N.C. Wesleyan that
Overall the People's Choice Award competition raised $6,875.94. The total raised during the event was not available prior to press time on Saturday.
"This is third year in a row for First Presbyterian Church representing the church at the chili cookoff," Royall said prior to the announcement of the winners. "We really like to support the Community Soup Kitchen. We come out here because it is great for the community. It is an important mission for us. But this year we decided to choose a theme that went along with the history of the Presbyterian Church which is Scots' history. That it is why we chose the name Hot Scots and why we have a little backstory about how the Scot invented chili."
Royall, the chief cook for the team, said the day could not have been any better and that the event could not have come at a better time considering what the community has endured because of Hurricane Matthew and flooding.
For the adventurous, the team had a relish made with ghost and habanero peppers to spice up the chili.
"You'd be surprise how many will put it on that small cup of chili," he said. "Hopefully we will be back again next year and have the opportunity to do it again."
Paula Bradshaw said she had been downtown Saturday to walk around when she found the chili cookoff.
"We saw the crowd and came down to see what it was all about," she said.
It was well worth the walk, she said as she sampled the chili.
"I am glad to help out, glad to help the soup kitchen," she said. "It is good food. I think it is great, and it is a good day. It cooled off for us so it is a perfect chili day -- a perfect day to get out and boost spirits after what we have been through the past couple of weeks."
The event started 10 years when the Soup Kitchen's board was trying to find creative ways to raise money for the group.
"The community is so supportive," said Ann Hunter, president of the soup kitchen board. "We also do send out flyers twice a year asking for contributions. It (donations) comes in, in the mail. It is just amazing how people are just committed year after year to help us."
This year's event attracted 18 teams, which is amazing considering what has happened over the past couple of weeks because of Hurricane Matthew, she said.
"All of the money made goes straight to feeding folks at the soup kitchen," she said. "It (feeding numbers) has been coming up for the last couple of years considerably since the economy fell, and a lot of people lost their jobs.
"We have a lot of veterans who are unemployed. We have a lot of people who don't even have a house or a place to live. We have a lot of homeless people who eat there."
Mrs. Hunter said organizers were pleased with the turnout.
"You know, we don't ever set a goal," she said. "We are just happy with whatever we get, and it keeps growing. This is our only fundraiser. We have to raise about $130,000. We feed anywhere between 100 and 200 people every day. It takes a lot."
"We don't take a vacation," Mrs. Hunter said.
Volunteers and donation are welcome. People can call the soup kitchen at 919-731-3939 or stop by the soup kitchen, 112 W. Oak St.
The Soup Kitchen serves an average of 150 people a day.
Since it began Dec. 15, 1980, to the end of August 2016, it had served a total of 974,193 meals.