Saturday, April 19, 2014

And The Winner Is...



Congrats to Earl Smith and Darryl Hammond for winning the Judge's Choice at our 2014 Downtown Chili Showdown held at the Main Street Arena on April 12!  The pair's "Belly Achin' Chili" not only scored high marks from our judges, but was a favorite of many of our visiting tasters as well!  As a reward for their hard work Earl and Darryl took home the coveted Downtown Chili Showdown trophy, a caribbean cruise vacation and a cash prize. In true champion form, Earl and Darryl generously donated their cash winnings to Red Shoe Cville - proving that they are not just chili champions, but champions for the cause, as well.  Well done on so many levels, guys, thank you!

The 2014 People's Choice Award went deservedly to Kelly Sebesta of Virginia National Bank, whose incredible booth decorations were trumped only by the amazing taste of her chili!  Additionally, if there was an award for putting the most heart in to it, Kelly would deserve the biggest trophy of all. Her efforts alone helped us raise hundreds of dollars for RMHC - her cup was literally running over!  Thank you Kelly, for helping us make this a truly special event!

And of course, we'd love to send a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated and attended this year's Downtown Chili Showdown!  With your support we were able to raise over $8000(!) for the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville, all while have a fabulously fun time rockin' our red shoes.

We are so grateful to the following businesses, restaurants, and amateur chefs for their participation in and support of this year's event. We could not have made this happen without you - and can't wait to have you all back next year!

Judges
Pam Garrison, Hit Kicker 99.7
Annette Daly,  The Hot Pepper Queen

Businesses/Restaurants
Brookville Restaurant
Commonwealth Restaurant and Skybar
Maya Restaurant
McGrady's Irish Pub
Monticello Media
The Whiskey Jar

Home Cooks/Businesses
Bailey Crews and Marcus Baily
Courtney and Katie Eastlack
Butch 
Kelly Sebesta
Molly Akeel
Pam Whorley
Wes Ammons
Zenas Choi

Sponsors
Main Street Arena
Monticello Media
US Navy
McDonald's
Comcast Spotlight
The Sasha Farmer Team
Virginia Tent Rental