Casa Grande held the State Chili Cookoff event here yesterday plus the ballroom was rented out for a Medical, Health & Wellness Expo. Busy day.
Some of the contestants traveled far and wide to enter the competition.
These contestants are dedicated participants.
There was a volunteer panel of judges from Palm Creek that met and did a very organized and formal taste test of all contestants. I would think they would all taste the same after a while but the judges had items to cleanse their pallet between samples.
The event was open to the public so we bought wristbands which allowed us to walk from booth to booth and sample each chili. There were over 20 to sample!! I made it about half way and had to quit. At 105 degree weather, that's all the chili I could handle. It was certainly fun to walk around and visit with the contestants though.
It was a lot cooler inside the ballroom for the Health Expo:
There were booths from doctor offices, dentists, chiropractors, solar panels, realty offices, fitness centers, and other types of clinics in the Casa Grande area.
These two physically fit young men certainly made good billboards for Planet Fitness!
There is a HUGE health complex being built on Cottonwood right next to Villas by Mary T. Mary T will also be building more condos behind that facility when it is finished.
Diane Gaines was there to support the Cancer center. She and her group of volunteers prepare and serve over 100 meals per month for cancer patients who come to the center.
The chili tasting started at 2:00 in the afternoon and so did this BRIEF thunderstorm. It rained hard for about 8 minutes and then cleared to blue skis immediately afterward. I'm sure the storm plus 100+ heat kept the event attendance pretty low but those of us who were there had a good time.
