ELK POINT – If you see the Town of St. Paul’s civic flag fluttering above the Town of Elk Point’s administration building this week, it’s not an illusion.
Mayor Parrish Tung and his St. Paul counterpart, Mayor Maureen Miller, added a little incentive to the wins at Elk Point’s first official Chili Cook-off, by declaring that the flag of whichever town’s entry was declared the winner of any award would fly in the rival town for a week.
Despite Mayor Tung being a member of the judging party, along with Chamber of Commerce president Terri Hampson and Doug Bassett of the A.G. Ross Arena Operating Committee, the Town of St. Paul claimed the Elk Point Chamber’s trophy for Team Spirit.
A second trophy sponsored by the Chamber went to Bumper to Bumper and their ‘Smokin’ Chili’ for the Best Chili overall, while trophies sponsored by the Town of Elk Point went to The ‘Wright’ Choice team for the Spiciest Chili and to Apidae Compassionate Care of Bonnyville, whose chili featured locally produced honey to win the Most Creative award.
Other competitors included St. Paul Regional FCSS, St. Paul/Smoky Lake Community Futures, the Town of Elk Point with their Heavy DumpStir chili, Northern Lights Library System’s ‘Dewey Decimators’ team and the Co-op Chilinators, for a total of nine entries that thrilled Town of Elk Point recreation coordinator Caitlyn Bush, who had set a goal of having at least six teams for this inaugural event, co-sponsored by the Town and Chamber of Commerce.
An excellent crowd of chili eaters filled the lineup of picnic tables in Elk Point Cornerstone Co-op’s parking lot right from the time the judges completed their pre-noon-hour rounds, and lined up to fill and refill their bowls at the nine competitors’ tables, with Bush saying, “Thank you to the community for stepping up and supporting the cook-off and to the vendors who took part,” as she and Hampson prepared to announce the winners.
All proceeds from the Chili Cook-off, collected a toonie at a time, will go to support the A. G. Ross Arena.
