Recent flood waters didn't keep residents of Tebbetts from hosting its monthly Friday dinner on New Year's Day.
The dinners, which are scheduled the first Friday of every month, have been going on for four years, but the first day of 2016 marked the possibility of a new tradition: an annual chili cook-off.
Sam Richards, one of the regular volunteers, thought doing the cook-off would be a good way to jump into the new year, especially during the holidays when creating a sense of community is fundamental for the dinners.
"Community involvement is key," Richards said.
And the cook-off was a success. More than 60 people attended the event, with people driving around the flooded areas of Route 94 to chow down on different types of chili.
At a reduced rate of $5, adults had an open invitation to 12 types of all-you-can eat (or at least until it's gone) chili. The money garnered at the event will be used for the general maintenance of the Tebbetts Community Center and park, Richards said.
The 12 types of chili were categorized into mild and spicy for the contest and each category had two winners:
Mild:
First place - Gary Heimericks
Second place - Butch Richards
Spicy:
First place - Butch Richards
Second place - Sam Richards
For the cook-off, cooks were allowed to use home-grown frozen vegetables, but canned goods and meat products had to be purchased from the store to stay in accordance with the Callaway health code. First place winners received a $20 gift card to Chili's restaurant and second place winners received a $10 gift card to Wendy's.
Richards wants to make the chili cook-off a regular thing for the first Friday in January to remind locals that a community creates a family, too.
"I think keeping people in touch is important," Richards said. "People don't just eat, get up and leave - they sit and visit."
The Community Center is the site for community dinners on the first Friday every month, but the next big community event won't come until the last weekend in June - the three-day Tebbetts Picnic.