Cypress Care Center in Wildwood was the big winner at the 21st annual Villages Rotary Chili Cook Off on Saturday at Lake Sumter Landing.
Rotary club member and a 21-year veteran of the Chili Cook Off Jo Weber commented on the huge crowd that attended this year.
“You could tell not just by looking around, but also by the amount of chili consumed,” she said.
Following a stirring patriotic show performed by The Villages Cheerleaders, the event closed with the awarding of the trophies.
All of the winners donated their cash prizes back to the Rotary. This added an additional $2,000 to the Rotary’s major annual fundraiser. President of the Rotary Roy Smith said that the proceeds from Chili Cook Off are used for scholarships and to support area service organizations in need.
Some of the 37 participants making chili competed in teams for traveling trophies. This year the Lake County Sheriff’s office won the Public Safety trophy and the Military trophy went to Combat Veterans to Careers. The People’s Choice award went to the Villages Parrot Heads.
An award for Best Booth went to Doc’s Restoration, a residential remodeling company.
Then came the individual Chili Cook Off trophies. The three Honorable Mention recipients were Villages Insurance Team B, Property of the Villages Team B and the Villages Design team.
Third place went to Properties of the Villages Team A. Second place went to Villages Golf Cars.
First place went to Cypress Care Center, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center in Wildwood. Cypress Care Center’s Executive Chef Bob Reed made the Chili. Asked what was special about his chili, he replied that it was just his own chili recipe he had been working on over the years.
“I always season twice,” said Reed, “once at the beginning and again as it is finishing.”
