Chili Cookoff a Bust

Beans and Jeans Jamboree a bust!  Oh sure, you may disagree if you were one of the three cooks who garnered awards. Word on the street is turnout was low and when asked to speculate most people agree that this is due in large part to poor marketing. (Perhaps we should have sent out email announcements).

I saw the ad in the Cambrian the Thursday before the event.  That would assume most interested parties

1. Read the paper

2. Read the paper every week.

3. Read the paper every week at least before Saturday morning.

In the darkened corners of the Cambria Pines Conference room Kiwanians were talking in hushed tones of a take-over of what has been the baby of the Cambria Chamber of Commerce.  Cambria radicals no doubt; but still it is obvious that something needs to be done. (Remember, we are members of the chamber here)

What do you think? Was Beans and Jeans a Bust?  Could the event been marketed better, if so how. Share your ideas on ourmessage board under the subject heading: Bean N Jeans.

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Catherine Ryan Hyde teaches fiction part-time at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, California, and at the Cuesta College Writer's Conference each fall, and writes full-time. She is the author of a novel, "Funerals for Horses" (Russian Hill Press 1997), and a collection of short fiction, "Earthquake Weather" (Russian Hill Press 1998).

Her short stories have been published in Bottomfish, The Illinois Review, Aura, Hayden's Ferry Review, Pearl, South Dakota Review, Vignette, The Amherst Review, Descant, Eureka Literary Magazine, The Crescent Review, and other journals. She has stories forthcoming in The Laurel Review, River Styx, High Plains Literary Review, Literal Latte, Bellingham Review, Red Cedar Review, and the anthology Santa Barbara Stories (John Daniel & Co., Fall 1998).

Her story "Subway Dancer and Snake" will be published in the Antioch Review in 1998. Two of her stories have been honored in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest, "Love is Always Running Away" in 1994 and "Dante" in 1996. Her story "Red Texas Sky" was nominated for Best American Short Stories, the O'Henry Award, and a Pushcart Prize, and her story "Wednesday Man" was also nominated for Pushcart Prize XXII. She received second place in the 1997 Bellingham Review Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction for "Breakage," an excerpt from her novel "Turtle Park."

Catherine recently served on the 1998 fiction fellowship panel of the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

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CHILI COOK-OFF & CLASSIC CAR SHOW GREAT SUCCESS!
by Kellie Dustman & Mary Ann Carson Chairpersons Classic Car Show/Cambria Chamber of Commerce 

Cambria's 7th Annual Chili Cook-off, Beer Tasting and Classic Car Show.

 

The Cambria Chamber of Commerce 7th Annual Chili Cook-off and Classic Car Show was held Saturday March 27th. 34 beautiful cars participated. They arrived from as far away as Santa Maria. Goodies Bags filled with everything from garden gloves, key chains, pens and discount offers, were enjoyed by both car show entries and chili cookers. The trophy for Best of Show went to All Manning for his 1934 Ford Cabriolet. Best Paint & Best Interior went to Raymond & Fern Barbra for their 1948 Ford 2 door Sedan. Congratulations!

A big Thank you goes to Businesses who sponsored goodie bags, trophies and car "special award" plaques. Thanks to the work of Sharon Anderson, Chairperson of the Chili Cook-off and her volunteers, Anita Miller and Anita Raisola, 400 people were able to taste 8 different chili offerings.

The trophy for Best Chili & Showmanship was presented to:

	1st Crossroads Glass & Door,
	2nd Place went to The Sons of the American Legion and
	3rd Place The Castle Cafe

Congratulations!

Other chili cookers were, Hoffmeyer Roofing, Bluebird Inn, West End Bar & Grill, Cambria Rotary and Mustache Pete's. A special Thanks to the businesses sponsoring the Chili Cook-off trophies! Everyone enjoyed themselves on a sunny day in March. They can hardly wait to come back next year! Thank you to all who participated!

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Congratulations to 'Gimpy Gourmet' aka Joe  Anderson for his first place award in the 1998 Beans N Jeans Jamboree Chili Cook-off.  Second place went to Jennifer Thieme, third place to Cambria Rotary Club cooked by Ken Cooper.

This years event was only marred by low attendance; the chili's were as good as or in many cases better than at last years event. The results were a complete shakeup of last years standing.

Who would have thought West End Bar & Grille would disappear from the landscape, that the Kiwanis chili would blow the roof of you mouth off (third place last year), and where was the Cookie Crock in all of this.

We here at Cambria's Best feel it is more a reflection on the unstable nature of chili and it's accompanying ingredients than on the skill and protocol followed by any of the chefs.

The only repeat winner was Jennifer Thieme who with partner Ron Covert prepared "Heaven & Hell" chili for the Cambria General Store. Their gimmick was to put a white chili, 'Pearly Gate' into a cup with red chili, 'hell's kitchen' and separate the two with a tortilla chip. The consumer is then invited to remove the chip to watch as heaven and hell come together.

Jennifer Thieme at the Cambria Waiter Waitress Race
-Photo:Flash Photo Graphics

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