Charles City enjoys the return of the Great Chili Cook-Off

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Great Chili Cook-Off returned to Charles City on Friday, April 5, after a multi-year absence.

Hosted by Main Street Charles City, the annual contest has been on hiatus since 2020, being one of the last public events to be held in Charles City before the COVID-19 pandemic shut such gatherings down.

Coming back for 2024, the roster of featured chefs consisted of high school students from the Charles City Comet Café, drawing in a big crowd to the Columbus Club on Friday for a chili lunch.

“It’s going really good,” said Community Development Director Mark Wicks. “We’ve had a lot of comments that they’re glad we brought it back.”

Competing for the coveted golden ladle were Comet Café students Lukas Vance, Trevor Carolan, Chris Barritt, Clayton Wright, Makenna Baker-Neve, Connor Dietz, Laurie Baking, Jazznee David, Keenen Wiley, and Jordan Young – some pairing up into teams – to make eight distinct batches of chili to be voted on by a hungry crowd of judges.

“We’re extremely appreciative of the Comet Café,” said Wicks. “They are a huge help.”

A team of volunteers took shifts serving up samples throughout the afternoon, with nobody on either side of the spoon knowing which students made which chili.

While previous years have featured runaway winners, this year’s competition was a tight race. After all the votes were counted, Jordan Young and Keenen Wiley were declared the winners of the contest, with Chris Barritt coming in second by a single vote and a two-way tie for third between Trevor Carolan and Clayton Wright.

“It feels really good,” said Young after finding out that his and Wiley’s chili had won.

Aiming for a sweet-and-spicy flavor, the young cooks had some help in the kitchen, going to their mothers for advice on seasoning.

“They came in a clutch and helped us,” said Wiley.

“We give the props to them,” said Young.