Andrews It’s my secret ingredient,” Patrisha Craft explained at the annual Fire in the Valley chili cook-off hosted by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7620. “I think I’ll win because I use Kashmiri chili powder,” she said.
Craft was one of five hopefuls in the chili cook-off, which drew 250 people to the Andrews Community Center on Saturday.
If the chili warmed the bellies, Bill Vespasian warmed up souls with tap-your-toes music and winsome ballads. The crowd mingled, enjoying drinks from FernCrest Winery and purchasing CBD products from Andrews’ own Double K Farm.
Tony Anderson, quartermaster for VFW Post 7620, was excited about the fundraiser.
“We have several programs we fund through this annual event,” he said. “Unfortunately, some of the chili entrants got sick and couldn’t enter this year.”
That was fine by the three winners. When the Crock-Pots finally emptied, Cups & Cones would take home the first-place honor, with Let Er Rip in second place and Craft coming in third.
The big event was Bigfoot Refinery Beard Co.’s Beard & Mustache contest. Owner Jereme Overton said the audience will choose the winner by the loudest cheering.
The Andrews’ audience came ready to cheer. The top three winners received a beard oil and beard balm swag bag from Bigfoot, as well as a cash prize.
“We’re splitting the money between the winners and Reach of Cherokee County,” Overton said.
While there were plenty of beards present at the event, only three men chose to enter the contest. Looking over the crowd, Jonathan Allen of Bigfoot offered some grooming advice.
“Don’t use bar soap on your beard; it will dry it out,” he said.
The same goes for shampoo. “Facial hair is different from head hair,” he said.
Aside from their beard and mustache products, Allen recommended a home care remedy for a dry, scratchy beard.
“If you don’t have beard oil at home, you can use coconut oil,” he said. On beard etiquette, “Use a comb after eating,” Overton added with a laugh, “but not at the table.”
The contest brought Scott Rambler to the stage for the Longest Beard, Mike Mills for Best Groomed Mustache and Kevin Sargent for Longest Mustache. After a rousing voting cheer, Rambler took first-place honors.