Attending Greenwood's Chili Cookoff 2023

 

By Tonya Martin a Participant

Sixteen teams battled it out at the Greenwood Shrine Club for the 15th Annual Chili Cook-off.  

The day was perfect for chili – overcast & 50 degrees and the air was filled with amazing smells all around.  There were quite a few unique chili’s in the crowd with sausages, game and most of all secrets!  

As the GWD team came around and collected the 24 oz containers of test chili to take to the judges, the “Tasters” began making their rounds.  With 16 samples, no one would go home hungry for sure.  By the time I was at #8, I was down to taking 1-2 bites.  

Back in the judging area, the tasting and passing of each chili (with a swig of a cold beverage and a saltine palate cleanser) was in full swing looking at aroma, consistency, color, taste and aftertaste.  About an hour later, a winner would go home with the GOLDEN SPOON and the loser would take home the GOLDEN PLUNGER.  

My chili, sadly, fell somewhere in the middle.  All the prepping, tasting, spicing was not enough to win “the spoon”, BUT I did win the day.  I was enjoying something I love (cooking) with friends by my side.  You can ask for more than that!  

1st and Tasters Choice 

Chris Wade and Jason Crawford

2nd Jeremy Davis, Chris Griffin, Johnny Hanna 

3rd  Travis Costello and Michelle 

4th  Richie Williams 

5th  Denny and Dena Hendrix

6th  Director staff 

7th  3-way TIE Juanita Smart, Double R Cooking Crew- The Rushton’s and Rush’s, Trina Hughes 

8th  Katelyn Smart

9th  Chris Crumpton, J-Bo Jennings 

10th Caroline Nave and Jason Brooks 

11th Kathy Knight 

12th Tonya Martin 

13th Tipsy Jalapeños Angie and Patrick Moore 

14th  Paul Skelton 

15th  Spice Girls Lisa Tharpe, and Stacey Jennings 

16th Parrot Heads Sharon and Rene

2023 Hejaz Nobility Gala Stampede

 

The 2023 Hejaz Nobility Gala Stampede is one for the books!  From the absolutely amazing Hospitality Room to the Elegant Western Décor to a headliner band Cody Webb – This Gala had it all!  Amazing job to all that planned and worked on this event!

2023 Polar Bear Jump

On Saturday February 18, 2023 the Anderson Red Fez Shrine Club held its second annual Polar Bear Jump at Big Water Marina.  It was a chilly day out for the jump, and the water was a warm 41 degrees, but the attendance was amazing. 

We would like to give a big thank you to Big Water Marina for hosting us for our event. We had Palmetto Moonshine there offering tastings of its products as well as Typsy Tavern Bar and Grill with their food truck for great food for all to enjoy. We want to thank all of our sponsors that without whom we couldn't have made this possible. 

So many people gave their time and effort to help set up this event from the planning stage down all the way to the event itself. We plan to continue this great tradition every year. We want to say thank you to the business sponsors that donated prizes that were raffled off at the event. Thank you to everyone who donated to or attended the event and we hope to see everyone again next year. Go ahead and mark calendars for next year as we intend to hold it on the same weekend.