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Forget about the Fahrenheit.
The heat is on this weekend in Clarksville.
The Pike County community hosts its annual Chili Cook-Off from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in Riverfront Park.
The event, which is a preliminary for the International Chili Society’s World Championship, attracts 25 cookers and hundreds of eaters to Clarksville.
Competitors have three hours to cook up their best recipes for red chili, chili verde and salsa. There’s also an “anything goes” category.
Cooks turn in a 32-ounce cup for judges to sample and a point system is used to decide winners. Cash prizes and trophies are awarded.
Except for “anything goes” entries, beans, macaroni, rice, hominy or other ingredients are not allowed.
And don’t think that chili is chili is chili. Cook-offs are held around the nation throughout the year.
Different cooking techniques, different spices and even different altitudes can affect taste. The cookers keep diaries on what works.
Proceeds from the event are about $5,000 a year. The not-for-profit Raintree Arts Council, the main local sponsor, pours the money back into maintenance of the Apple Shed entertainment complex and arts programs.
The ‘50s and ‘60s band Butch Wax and the Hollywoods will be back again to provide music.
A truly extraordinary woman named Linda Blakey oversees it all.
To find out more, log on to www.clarksvillemo.us.
And what’s Blakey’s recipe for the perfect chili?
“It’s a secret,” she said, indignantly. “You don’t give that up.”
Muddy BBQ
Great food also can be found at the Muddy Water Bar-B-Q Festival.
It continues through Saturday at the Y Men’s Pavilion at the foot of Hill Street in downtown Hannibal.
The cooking began Friday night. Gates open at 11 a.m. Saturday. There’ll be games, music, a bike show and public tasting all day.
Judging is at noon Saturday, with an awards ceremony at 3 p.m. Almost $6,000 in prizes will be given away.
The band Pike Station will play from 7 to 11 p.m.
The event is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, with proceeds going to the Hannibal POPS Club.
More can be found at www.bbqhannibal.com.
Lincoln Days
The Lincoln Days Civil War Re-enactment promises to bring the 1860s to life.
The event is from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at Lake Pittsfield on U.S. 54 just south of Interstate 72.
Re-enactors will stage a battle at 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
There also will be artillery, cavalry and infantry drills, a ladies tea and fashion show, campfire music, a candlelight tour of camps, a veterans’ memorial service and other activities.
Actors portraying President Lincoln and his wife, Mary, will be available to talk with spectators and have their pictures taken. Vendors and artisans also will have displays.
Lincoln enjoyed visiting Pike County while practicing law. Nine homes in Pittsfield and three in Griggsville are among those he visited which still stand.
The Pike County Abe Lincoln Project is sponsoring the festival.
If you’d like to know more, visit www.pikelincoln.com.
Forget about the Fahrenheit.
The heat is on this weekend in Clarksville.
The Pike County community hosts its annual Chili Cook-Off from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in Riverfront Park.
The event, which is a preliminary for the International Chili Society’s World Championship, attracts 25 cookers and hundreds of eaters to Clarksville.
Competitors have three hours to cook up their best recipes for red chili, chili verde and salsa. There’s also an “anything goes” category.
Cooks turn in a 32-ounce cup for judges to sample and a point system is used to decide winners. Cash prizes and trophies are awarded.
Except for “anything goes” entries, beans, macaroni, rice, hominy or other ingredients are not allowed.
And don’t think that chili is chili is chili. Cook-offs are held around the nation throughout the year.
Different cooking techniques, different spices and even different altitudes can affect taste. The cookers keep diaries on what works.
Proceeds from the event are about $5,000 a year. The not-for-profit Raintree Arts Council, the main local sponsor, pours the money back into maintenance of the Apple Shed entertainment complex and arts programs.
The ‘50s and ‘60s band Butch Wax and the Hollywoods will be back again to provide music.
A truly extraordinary woman named Linda Blakey oversees it all.
To find out more, log on to www.clarksvillemo.us.
And what’s Blakey’s recipe for the perfect chili?
“It’s a secret,” she said, indignantly. “You don’t give that up.”
Muddy BBQ
Great food also can be found at the Muddy Water Bar-B-Q Festival.
It continues through Saturday at the Y Men’s Pavilion at the foot of Hill Street in downtown Hannibal.
The cooking began Friday night. Gates open at 11 a.m. Saturday. There’ll be games, music, a bike show and public tasting all day.
Judging is at noon Saturday, with an awards ceremony at 3 p.m. Almost $6,000 in prizes will be given away.
The band Pike Station will play from 7 to 11 p.m.
The event is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, with proceeds going to the Hannibal POPS Club.
More can be found at www.bbqhannibal.com.
Lincoln Days
The Lincoln Days Civil War Re-enactment promises to bring the 1860s to life.
The event is from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at Lake Pittsfield on U.S. 54 just south of Interstate 72.
Re-enactors will stage a battle at 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
There also will be artillery, cavalry and infantry drills, a ladies tea and fashion show, campfire music, a candlelight tour of camps, a veterans’ memorial service and other activities.
Actors portraying President Lincoln and his wife, Mary, will be available to talk with spectators and have their pictures taken. Vendors and artisans also will have displays.
Lincoln enjoyed visiting Pike County while practicing law. Nine homes in Pittsfield and three in Griggsville are among those he visited which still stand.
The Pike County Abe Lincoln Project is sponsoring the festival.
If you’d like to know more, visit www.pikelincoln.com.
Soap Box
Registration has closed, but you can still see racing the way it used to be.
In other words, before engines.
The Quincy Breakfast Optimist Club hosts its annual Soap Box Derby Race on Saturday.
Boys and girls ages eight to 17 will compete in two divisions starting at 9 a.m. on the bridge along North 18th Street between Hollister Whitney and Quintron Way.
One winner from each division goes on to the All American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio.
If you’d like to know more, visit www.quincyboc.org.
Gone fishin’
In celebration of National Fishing and Boating Week, the Army Corps of Engineers is hosting Kids’ Fishing Day.
It’s from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Frank Russell Recreation Area at Mark Twain Lake.
The Missouri Department of Conservation will provide fishing equipment. A casting contest will be conducted by the Mark Twain Bassmasters and experts will instruct young anglers on basic fishing.
Prizes will be awarded and lunch will be provided.
Participation is limited to 25 kids, so call the Corps at (573) 735-4097 to register.
Also look for other free fishing events around the area.
Home and garden
The Bear Creek Garden Club is offering a two-fer.
You get to see beautiful homes and wonderful gardens on the club’s second annual Home and Garden Tour.
It’s from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday in Lincoln County. Refreshments will be available.
For ticket information, call Linda at (636) 332-8867 or Bev at (636) 887-0505.
Udder stuff
Here are a few other things happening this weekend in the region:
• The Shelby County American Cancer Society Relay For Life continues through Sunday morning at the fairgrounds in Shelbina.
• Farmers’ markets are available in Hannibal, Louisiana, Pittsfield and Quincy.
• The 135th annual Melrose Chapel United Methodist Church Strawberry Festival is from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday at 3600 Payson Road in Quincy.
• The Hannibal Cavemen take on the Springfield Sliders at 6:35 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday at Clemens Field, 301 Warren Barrett Drive.
• The Quincy Gems play the Dupage Dragons at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at QU Stadium, 18th and Sycamore.
Heads up
There...she is?
Check back here next Saturday and I’ll take you to a beauty pageant where the winner may wear a beard as well as a crown.
Ab imo pectore (from the bottom of my heart).
