Chili brings several area pastors together for a common cause

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Maybe it was divine intervention, a prayer that was finally answered or a secret spice that would win over chili lover’s taste buds.

Either way, one Charles City pastor was going to go home with the golden ladle on Friday afternoon at the Columbus Club.

After the public had spoken in a blind taste test, Mike Downey of the Evangelical Free Church in Charles City was the clergyman who claimed the top title at the Holy Beans 24th Annual Great Chili Cook-off.

Downey knew he was going to have a formidable fight on his hands in order to claim best chili in the land among seven local church representatives.

“We’re just no minor league chili-makers here,” said Downey. “These are passionate professionals.”

The Chili Cook-off has been a hit for well over two decades.

“It’s a fundraiser for Community Revitalization, but more than anything it’s a community service event designed to get people out and about and together – just to have a good time,” said Mark Wicks, community development director. “We heard a lot of laughter today.”

Proceeds from the chili cook-off go toward community betterment efforts by Community Revitalization, Charles City’s Main Street Iowa program.

“See, I tell people, I have only two good ideas a year and I used them both on this. I came up with the church challenge and Holy Beans. You’ve got to call it something,” said Wicks about this year’s theme.

Entrants into the cook-off prepare five gallons of chili and store the cold weather staple in coolers the night before the challenge gets underway.

“The basic format is always the same,” said Wicks. “We pick a theme as far as a group. Last year it was the automobile service representatives. We’ve done just about every group there is out there.”

Jason Boyd, minister at Faith Bible Chapel in Charles City, said he didn’t want to make his chili too spicy and said he liked one of the different recipes his church experimented with and they ran with it. The decision enabled Boyd and his church to be awarded with a third-place finish.

Boyd stayed humble and made sure to interject some humor into the discussion about his chili’s chance to claim victory before the votes were tabulated.

“My number one thing that I’m an expert at – eating it,” Boyd said, smiling.

Boyd racked up 20 votes, just one back of runner-up finishers Amazing Grace pastor Samuel Rambo and church representative Josh Johnson.

The vote count had Downey head and shoulders above the rest of the pack as he garnered 39 first-place votes.

A new pastor to Charles City, First Baptist Church’s Matt Howlett, put an interesting twist into his chili entry.

“Ours is a little unique because we used chicken instead of the beef,” said Howlett.

“Baptists are always good about potlucks,” he said. “So we had a potluck that we tried the recipe we were thinking of going with. Everybody liked it so that’s what we went with.”

Howlett has been a minister at First Baptist for a little over a year. He said the cook-off was a chance to meet some pastors in town that he had never met before. That included Boyd, who said he will have been a pastor in Charles City for 14 years next month.

“It’s always fun to have some friendly competition,” said Howlett.

Also competing this year were Bethany Alliance Church and Pastor Coulter Page, Immaculate Conception Church and Father Gary Mayer, along with Trinity United Methodist Church and Pastor Steve Hansen.

The seven chilis, identified at the Cook-Off only by number, were as follows: Chili No. 1 Evangelical Free Church; Chili No. 2 Immaculate Conception Church; Chili No. 3 Trinity United Methodist Church; Chili No. 4 Bethany Alliance Church; Chili No. 5 Faith Bible Chapel; Chili No. 6 Amazing Grace Church; and Chili No. 7 First Baptist Church.

Desserts and volunteer support were provided by the Prostart 2.0: Bakeshop students from Charles City High School, while Cambrex, Mark Barry at the Comet Bowl and a number of community individuals also provided event support.

“It’s a fun event. The community continues to support it,” said Wicks. “We have a lot of return volunteers.”