Cabela’s CASI Chili Bowl and Super Bowl LXIX Tailgate Event Chili Cook-off January 31, 2015 & February 1, 2015

3 Years ago, out of nowhere, my husband, Scott, informed me he was entering a local chili cook-off to which I responded with “Are you kidding me? What the heck for?”. His response, which is quite typical, “Because, I think I can win”. And, yes, he won, however, I took all the credit…after all, I was serving it! Thus began our journey into the wild world of chili.

Back in March of 2014, Scott and I had heard through the grapevine that someone working with the NFL had reached out to CASI to see about hosting a sanctioned CASI Chili cook-off at one of their events. I decided to reach out to this person, only to discover that they were already planning on proceeding with ICS; I pleaded with her that she allow me the opportunity to submit a proposal of what we, as CASI, would do to support her event. I sought out CASI guidance from a very nice couple whom I had encountered at several cook-off’s, Ted and Sunny Fichtl, members of the local Arizona High Desert Pod. After several discussions over the next few months with the event planners and Ted, CASI was in, ICS was out!

Now here’s where the fun began, at least that’s what I keep telling myself! They mandated that we have 24 teams of no more than 4 people, prepare equal amounts of chili (20-25 gallons per team); that was easy, but they threw us a curve ball…we had to prepare 4 types of chili, Beef, Chicken, Pork and Vegetarian?! Vegetarian? Really? And the process begins…recruiting teams, extensive background checks, base recipes prepared, teams dropped out, new teams recruited, more background checks, recipes altered, sponsors and donations solicited, equipment needs determined, kitchen big enough to accommodate 24 teams in 2-3 days located, equipment ordered, ingredients purchased, permits applied for, teams drop out - too late to recruit more, volunteers put on standby activated, are we having fun yet? Dress code enacted, mutiny averted, dress code changed, another potential mutiny averted, all or nothing, here we go!

Okay, okay, let me expand a bit on the final weeks of preparation…Suddenly, without warning, the “Big event” was just 2 weeks away. My, how time flies by when you are having so much fun! Congratulations, everyone passed the background check, those questionable fun times in our youth seem to be behind all of us…oh, by the way, we have a dress code, we (the conglomeration that’s bigger than the Government that runs this major event) will tell you what you can and cannot say, publish, take pictures of, oh and it’s possible you will be required to cluck like a chicken (to quote Jennifer Scherfield!). Oh, and by the way, City of Glendale events planners would like CASI to do a spot for local News Channel 12 and promote the cook-off, okay, I don’t cook, but I guess I can wrangle up some chili. Scott Streich and Sandy Garner accompanied me to the interview and had pots of steaming chili to share and delight the anchors and behind the scenes crew.

Teams began arriving in Phoenix metropolitan area to find 75 degree weather, $1.75 per gallon gas prices and a city full of buzz and excitement. The chili preparation begins…Every two hours from 2:30-10:00, teams come to the Raymond S. Kellis High School Culinary Kitchen to gather their ingredients and begin cooking their chili. Scott and I had over 25 of our personal friends and family offer to help with the entire chili event, all while helping to preparing 6,000 beef and vegetable skewers for a catering portion of this same event. The Maricopa County Health Department (MCHD) camped out on us from start to finish, scrutinizing every move, checking temperatures, monitoring preparation procedures, making sure finished product was getting

properly cooled in the time required. Friday was no different, except we woke up to rain, what, Phoenix never gets rain (I’m sure our visitors were thinking the same thing)?! And, our MCHD presence was limited to only a couple of hours at the beginning of the long night of cooking, cleaning, cooling and more cleaning. Over the course of the 2 days, approximately a 14+ hour period, we had about 75 CASI cooks, 25 family and friends produce 576 gallons (41 gallons per hour; .7 gallons per minute) and 3000 beef and 3000 veggie skewers (430 skewers per hour; 7 per minute). Numerous pots and utensils washed over 250 times. 180 lbs each of beef, chicken and Pork were browned; over 250 lbs of onions sautéd, not to mention all the remaining vegetables that made up the vegetarian chilis. Wow! what an undertaking! The refrigerated truck was loaded and transferred to the VIP Tailgate area where we would be proudly serving up to 10,000 invitation only individuals on Sunday.

That same evening, local CASA pod member, Roland Rageon hosted a cooks dinner with BBQ pork and beef with all the fixings donated by all Arizona CASI pods (CASA, High Desert Pod, Chiliheads, Yavapai Chili Society) to be enjoyed by all the hard working cooks.

On Saturday, still overcast and drizzling rain here and there and after all the kitchen madness, MCHD came to our Cabela’s chili cook-off, to hand deliver our report and inform me that he was more than impressed with our monumental undertaking and that what we did, how we managed all processes, surpassing any restaurants that he visits on a regular basis. Everyone participating, take a bow, you deserve more than a pat on the back!

We then proceeded with our official sanctioned Cabela’s CASI Chili Cook-off where we had 56 competing red chilis and 19 people’s choice chili’s as well as 9 very fun show competitors. Attendance was not as great as we anticipated, yet through our tasting cup donations, bucket and 50/50 raffles we still managed to raise roughly $2,500 for the local 2 Share Foundation who raises money to purchase bullet-proof vests (valued at $2,500 each) for the K9 police dogs of Glendale. Bud Barrick was the big Competition Red Chili Winner, with Candy Knight coming in 2nd and Dan Hall taking 3rd. Eddie Love, Hogeye Chili was the 1st place Show winner, Travis Tonzie, Cowboy Chili coming in 2nd and Carol Knight, Racing Pigs finishing a strong 3rd. If I had to say, everyone deserved a show prize with all the enthusiasm they displayed!

That evening, Scott and I had one of the first good night’s sleep in a long time; after all, it was in the hands of a larger power! Sunday morning, we headed to the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in central Phoenix, in a mist of dense fog, yet another weather anomaly our out-of-town visitors were so lucky to witness. Guess we tried to give both the Seahawks and Patriots a “real” home game experience! We ushered into the coliseum, and went through obtaining our credentials in a matter of minutes, then were sent outside to load onto a bus, which transported us to the Cardinal’s arena. We then walked in, scanning our credentials and entered one of the most magnificent city within a city outdoors! In the grand scope of project management, the attention to details and the overall experience for attendees and workers alike was unsurpassed.

We began unloading chili’s from the refrigerated truck and delivering to 1 of 24 chili booths centrally located about 150’ from the main stage in which Dierks Bentley and Gavin McGraw who would later entertain to our delight. Without notice, the fog began to lift and burn off, the announcement came, “It’s go time, gates are opening, let’s have fun”. VIP attendees began filling the event, walking through our where our chili cooks were proudly enticing people to come taste and vote on their chili. Some celebrities were noticed, some even stopped to take pictures with our chili superstars! Soon the event began winding down, chili was running out and the day we had all been waiting for was coming to a close. Voting ended and winning overall was Chili

de Political (Vegetarian) Dave and Sandi Garner, Amy Garner and John Driscoll, 2nd was Chili Con Carnes 2 (Pork) Lisa Stone, Terry Foresman, Delfino and Christina Flores and coming in 3rd was 4th & Goal (Chicken) Donna Conrad, Dianne Stimson, Jana and Loyd Hamilton.

In the end, it was an experience of a lifetime for most, was it hard work, yes, but looking back, what we did was an incredible feat mastered by volunteers who wanted to be a part of a monumental event that the entire world watches. Personally, I’d do it again and I’d love to do it again with the incredible new friends I made over the course of the last couple of weeks!

Lastly, we did help other organizations benefit through our efforts. Raymond S. Kellis Culinary program received all our remaining perishable ingredients, some loose leftover canned goods and spices and some of the equipment used, in which they plan on hosting a chili luncheon for the faculty to raise money for their program. All left over chili from Sunday’s event, used cambros and remaining unused product and equipment were donated to local charity Waste Not of AZ, which feeds homeless and people in shelters. We made an incredible impact and impression locally!

I want to thank each and every team that stuck it out and conceded to a white shirt and tan pant dress code! Also, to our dear friends and family for helping an organization that Scott and I dearly support. Equally important, a deep appreciation to all our terrific sponsors whom, without their generous donations, our chili would have been missing some very important ingredients. A special and personal thank you to Donna Conrad and Ted Fichtl for all your hard work and support throughout!

Super Bowl VIP Tailgate Teams:Queen Creek Guys (Beef) – John Banas, John Bronson, Scott Hamilton, Chris CannonInsane Chili Posse (Beef) – Kalen Halter, Kurt Halter, Carson Smith, Matt HolcombeTerlingua Knights (Beef) – Richard Knight, Carol Knight, Candi Arevalo, Kristi KnightChili Con Carnes 3 (Beef) – Cathy Edmonson, Gaye JacoOregon Trail 4 (Beef) – Bobby Elliott, Matthew Elliott, David ElliottFat Head Chili (Beef) – Kristin Keith, Darrin Keith, Dave Luckett4th and Goal (Chicken) – Donna Conrad, Dianne Stimson, Jana Hamilton, Loyd Hamilton (this team prepared 2 batches to cover team that had to drop out last minute)Texas & Alaska Chili (Chicken) – Debbie Ashman, Steve Ashman, Mike ParkTimBuck2 (Chicken) – Tim Collier, Connie Collier, Doug Seelig, Carolyn SeeligAre you Ready for Chicken Chili (Chicken) – Steve Sigler, Jenifer Goodyear, Val Velitschkowski, Randall LettDizzy Pig (Chicken) – Jenny & Jack WindsorSonoran Heat (Pork) – Served by Bud Barrick & David Elliott, cooked by Ted & Sunny Fichtl & Tom & Nancy KlugBay of Pigs (Pork) – Ken Brown, Jeff Goekler, Dan Nall, Jay McCleeryAlchemist Chili (Pork) – Jerry Lee, Sandy Lee, Jeri Gutierrez, Phillip GutierrezChili Chili Bang Bang (Pork) – Jessie Waguespack, Jeannette Cardenas, Annette Rodriquez, Manny RodriquezChili Con Carnes 2 (Pork) – Lisa Stone, Terry Foresman, Delfino Flores, Christi FloresDesert Demons (Pork) – Ted Fichtl, Sunny Fichtl, Tom Klug, Nancy KlugQueen Creek Gals (Vegetarian) – Karen Banas, Tina Cannon, Tracy HamiltonChili de Politico “Correcta” (Vegetarian) – Dave Garner “Mad Jack”, Sandi Garner, John Driscoll, Amy GarnerCan’t Beat No Meat (Vegetarian) – Roland Regeon, Stacy Wells, Dave Reid, Brandy ReidChili Con Carnes 1 (Vegetarian) – Dianne Lewis, Pat Lewis, Elaine Garza, Tom Garza

Kiltlifter Chili Company (Vegetarian) – Ron Kennedy, Kathy Kennedy, Art GrandpreThat’s Rall Chili (Vegetarian) – Scott Schwartzbauer, Billy Felsot, Frank Fedigan

Volunteers:Tom & Donolyn RichardsonDana BuchananMark & Belinda WaltersDave LuckettDarrin & Kristen KeithBrent FisherKendra RussellMark BoolKyle Lewis & Malerie GarciaPat HeroldArt GrandpreBilly FelsotScott Schwartzbauer (new CASI member)Brian & Amanda HurleyFrank FediganFrances O’LearyMalia RichardsJennifer LairdDonna ConradDianne StimsonJenny WindsorTed & Sonny FichtlRoland Rageon

Sponsors:Cabela’sH-E-BTyson Fresh Meats / IMPRaeford Company / TysonLone Star SpicesFiesta SpicesMild Bill’s SpicesGoya CompanyAmigo MeatsAuto ZonePassin’ Time OutdoorsSoho BreweryOmega Landscaping

Quotes:

“It was an honor to be invited to participate as a judge in the CASI Chili Appreciation Society of Arizona’s Chili Cook-Off over Super Bowl weekend. It’s always great to participate in fun and entertaining fundraisers that benefit multiple charities in our community.” 

Councilmember Jamie AldamaCity of Glendale – Ocotillo District

“I truly appreciate all of the time and effort put in by CASI to make the Chili Cook Off a success.  Everything ran smoothly, and it was a great addition to the NFL Tailgate Party.” Emily AndersonNFL Event Planners