Gospel Lighthouse chili cook-off set for Saturday

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Jalapeno peppers, a dash of hot sauce and a dollop of sour cream — don’t forget the cheese and crackers.

That’s one way to eat your chili. There are countless others, and making chili is serious business in certain circles.

That’s what cook-offs are for.

For the second year, the Gospel Lighthouse Church in Floyd will hold the Men’s Chili Cook-Off, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

To the victor will go the spoils — which in this case are embroidered aprons awarded to the makers of the winning recipes in two categories and the satisfaction of knowing they’re No. 1.

Joe Low, Gospel Lighthouse youth pastor, helped come up with the idea a few years back.

“It is a challenge. It is competitive,” he said.

Low said he’s happy that folks can sample a wide array of different and delicious chili concoctions, all the while having fun in fellowship with worship and song.

“Guys take chili home. If you don’t get full, it’s your own fault. There’s plenty of food,” said Low.

The top three place winners will be announced in two separate categories — the people’s choice award and a secret judge award, who will rank his favorites on a 1-10 scale.

Low said the secret judge is a manager of a meat department at one of the grocery stores in the area. 

“It took him about 30, maybe 40 minutes last year to do it. He did a really thorough job,” Low said about the secret judging.

While the secret judge is determining his top picks for best chili, members of the Gospel Lighthouse congregation along with anyone else who wants to attend will sing songs and listen to guest speaker Bob Erickson.

Erickson travels the country as a bank consultant. He is also a teacher at the Midwest Mission Bible Training Center in Cresco.

Low said that about 50 people showed up at last year’s event and they could taste test and judge from 18 different chili recipes.

“It worked out good, because everybody made a full pot of chili. So we had plenty of food.”

Low said that last year’s winner swept both categories, winning the people’s choice award and also taking home the top honor from the secret judge.

This has upped the ante a bit and will make this year’s chili cook-off all the more fun and competitive for the entrants.

“I’ve had guys contact me in the middle of summer to tell me they’re perfecting their chili recipes to take him out,” laughed Low.

The cook-off is open to the public and free to attend. There will be a bucket if one wishes to contribute a freewill offering.