Things Heated Up at the Chili Cook-Off

The Plymouth State University event marketing class held its annual chili cook-off on Sat., Apr. 28, on the green of Mary Lyon. Students, faculty, and chili lovers throughout New Hampshire showed up for the event.  

"I was impressed with the event. It was a great day, despite the weather was a bit breezy. Earth Jam was happening too so we had two events happening while there were also PSU tours going on. I thought it was great for the tours to see what Plymouth has to offer," said sophomore Kaela Mitchell.

Not only was the turnout of spectators great, but there were also a large number of chili cookers. "This year we had a total of 35 chili cookers, and we were out of chili less than two hours into the event," said senior Alex Dostie.

"I love the cook-off, not only because of the cause, but because of the way it enables students to utilize what they are learning in a class and see how it can be applied in a larger context," said Professor Meagan Shedd.

Every table had a different tasting chili. Some had ingredients such as venison, steak tips, and pork, which made their chili stand out and taste good. "I had a lot of people coming up to me saying what chili they loved, and I heard a different answer every time. There were a lot of good types of chili this year," said Dostie.

"We tried so many different chilis that I couldn't tell you which one was the best, but you can never go wrong with that secret ingredient," said Shedd.

Not only was there a variety of different chili to taste, but the event also had different fun activities going on during the event as well. "We had pie throwing, a bake sale, a raffle, bouncy house, face painting, psychic readings, magicians, and Massive brand clothing sales," said senior Tim Fournier.

The students from the event marketing class did a spectacular job with putting on the event; everything seemed to run smoothly. "The staff wandered among the patrons asking for raffle purchases, encouraging refills, and making sure that people were not getting blown away by the wind--I think this spoke highly of their commitment to the event as well. The reusable bowls were great too," said Shedd. 

This year's event raised a significant amount of money. "The amount we made from the chili cook-off was $2,500. This is the record for any other chili cook-off," added Fournier.

All of the proceeds from this event are going to the Bridge House homeless shelter in Plymouth that house military veterans and other individuals without a home. "The Bridge House is a great cause to raise money. Anybody who dedicates their life to our country deserves to be taken care of," said senior Otis Oakes.

The winners of the event include first place: Zach Lacroix, second place: Paul O'Brien, and third place: Ryan Parker. "First place received a trophy and a t-shirt, and second and third won a trophy," said Fournier.

"The prizes had more of a pride factor than actually being something you wanted," said Dostie.

Congratulations to the winners on behalf of the Clock Staff. All of the chili was very well made, and the event was a lot of fun. Not only was it entertaining to taste delicious chili, it was even better knowing it was all for a great cause.

"We had so many people show up and show their support for a great cause. It was amazing to see so many people from the campus and community pack the Mary Lyon Green in a matter of minutes after opening," said Dostie.