Last Sunday the Clearwater Legion Riders invited the public to come in and vote for their favorite chili during their annual chili cook-off fundraiser. 

Entries were lined up by 12 p.m. when the event opened for taste testing and voting. Mark Irmiter, Robert Whitehead, Gary Grant, Dan Watson, and Larry Grimlie all brought their best chili for the competition. A Becker resident also brought in chili just to share.

Voting ended at 1:30, after which the chili cook-off changed into all-you-can-eat chili. Once the votes were tabulated, first place went to Watson for his masterpiece ‘Improv Chili.’ Second place went to Grant’s chili recipe. 

Watson has been entering the cook-off for the past four years, each year trying something different to bring out a variety of flavors. Each of his attempts have been based on traditional chili as that’s his preferred version. 

Last year he and his wife were watching their carbs, so for the contest he made a keto-friendly chili. He felt it came out okay, but it just wasn’t the same without beans. This year the beans were back, and he based his seasonings on a few different recipes and some improvising, so his final chili version was its own unique recipe. 

Although Watson had planned on spending time beforehand to taste test and tweak his chili’s flavor, he had a busy week leading up to the contest and wasn’t able to find time. Instead, he ended up hastily putting his winning recipe together just that morning.

Watson and Grant will next prepare their award-winning creations for competition in the 10th District’s annual chili cook-off Feb. 19. Each club in the district holds their own cook-off and the top two winners from each are then entered in the district cook-off.

Along with bragging rights, the chili cook-off started as a way for the Legion Riders from different organizations to get to know one another. The winner of the event each year receives a traveling trophy and hosts the next year’s event at their legion.

Proceeds raised from the local and district cook-offs go to better the lives of local veterans.