The document summarizes a large chili cook-off event organized by CASI that took place over two days prior to the Super Bowl in Phoenix. Over 75 volunteers produced 576 gallons of four types of chili for 10,000 attendees. Teams cooked for 14 hours to produce the chili. On the day of the event, attendees sampled chili and voted on their favorites. The effort was a success and helped raise funds for charity despite challenges with weather and last minute changes.

1. Cabela’s CASI Chili Bowl and Super Bowl LXIX Tailgate Event Chili Cook-off
January 31, 2015 & February 1, 2015
3 Years ago, out of nowhere, my husband, Scott, informed me he was entering a local chili
cook-off to which I responded with “Are you kidding me? What the heck for?”. His response,
which is quite typical, “Because, I think I can win”. And, yes, he won, however, I took all the
credit…after all, I was serving it! Thus began our journey into the wild world of chili.
Back in March of 2014, Scott and I had heard through the grapevine that someone working with
the NFL had reached out to CASI to see about hosting a sanctioned CASI Chili cook-off at one
of their events. I decided to reach out to this person, only to discover that they were already
planning on proceeding with ICS; I pleaded with her that she allow me the opportunity to submit
a proposal of what we, as CASI, would do to support her event. I sought out CASI guidance
from a very nice couple whom I had encountered at several cook-off’s, Ted and Sunny Fichtl,
members of the local Arizona High Desert Pod. After several discussions over the next few
months with the event planners and Ted, CASI was in, ICS was out!
Now here’s where the fun began, at least that’s what I keep telling myself! They mandated that
we have 24 teams of no more than 4 people, prepare equal amounts of chili (20-25 gallons per
team); that was easy, but they threw us a curve ball…we had to prepare 4 types of chili, Beef,
Chicken, Pork and Vegetarian?! Vegetarian? Really? And the process begins…recruiting teams,
extensive background checks, base recipes prepared, teams dropped out, new teams recruited,
more background checks, recipes altered, sponsors and donations solicited, equipment needs
determined, kitchen big enough to accommodate 24 teams in 2-3 days located, equipment
ordered, ingredients purchased, permits applied for, teams drop out - too late to recruit more,
volunteers put on standby activated, are we having fun yet? Dress code enacted, mutiny
averted, dress code changed, another potential mutiny averted, all or nothing, here we go!
Okay, okay, let me expand a bit on the final weeks of preparation…Suddenly, without warning,
the “Big event” was just 2 weeks away. My, how time flies by when you are having so much fun!
Congratulations, everyone passed the background check, those questionable fun times in our
youth seem to be behind all of us…oh, by the way, we have a dress code, we (the
conglomeration that’s bigger than the Government that runs this major event) will tell you what
you can and cannot say, publish, take pictures of, oh and it’s possible you will be required to
cluck like a chicken (to quote Jennifer Scherfield!). Oh, and by the way, City of Glendale events
planners would like CASI to do a spot for local News Channel 12 and promote the cook-off,
okay, I don’t cook, but I guess I can wrangle up some chili. Scott Streich and Sandy Garner
accompanied me to the interview and had pots of steaming chili to share and delight the
anchors and behind the scenes crew.
Teams began arriving in Phoenix metropolitan area to find 75 degree weather, $1.75 per gallon
gas prices and a city full of buzz and excitement. The chili preparation begins…Every two hours
from 2:30-10:00, teams come to the Raymond S. Kellis High School Culinary Kitchen to gather
their ingredients and begin cooking their chili. Scott and I had over 25 of our personal friends
and family offer to help with the entire chili event, all while helping to preparing 6,000 beef and
vegetable skewers for a catering portion of this same event. The Maricopa County Health
Department (MCHD) camped out on us from start to finish, scrutinizing every move, checking
temperatures, monitoring preparation procedures, making sure finished product was getting
properly cooled in the time required. Friday was no different, except we woke up to rain, what,

2. Phoenix never gets rain (I’m sure our visitors were thinking the same thing)?! And, our MCHD
presence was limited to only a couple of hours at the beginning of the long night of cooking,
cleaning, cooling and more cleaning. Over the course of the 2 days, approximately a 14+ hour
period, we had about 75 CASI cooks, 25 family and friends produce 576 gallons (41 gallons per
hour; .7 gallons per minute) and 3000 beef and 3000 veggie skewers (430 skewers per hour; 7
per minute). Numerous pots and utensils washed over 250 times. 180 lbs each of beef, chicken
and Pork were browned; over 250 lbs of onions sautéd, not to mention all the remaining
vegetables that made up the vegetarian chilis. Wow! what an undertaking! The refrigerated truck
was loaded and transferred to the VIP Tailgate area where we would be proudly serving up to
10,000 invitation only individuals on Sunday.
That same evening, local CASA pod member, Roland Rageon hosted a cooks dinner with BBQ
pork and beef with all the fixings donated by all Arizona CASI pods (CASA, High Desert Pod,
Chiliheads, Yavapai Chili Society) to be enjoyed by all the hard working cooks.
On Saturday, still overcast and drizzling rain here and there and after all the kitchen madness,
MCHD came to our Cabela’s chili cook-off, to hand deliver our report and inform me that he was
more than impressed with our monumental undertaking and that what we did, how we managed
all processes, surpassing any restaurants that he visits on a regular basis. Everyone
participating, take a bow, you deserve more than a pat on the back!
We then proceeded with our official sanctioned Cabela’s CASI Chili Cook-off where we had 56
competing red chilis and 19 people’s choice chili’s as well as 9 very fun show competitors.
Attendance was not as great as we anticipated, yet through our tasting cup donations, bucket
and 50/50 raffles we still managed to raise roughly $2,500 for the local 2 Share Foundation who
raises money to purchase bullet-proof vests (valued at $2,500 each) for the K9 police dogs of
Glendale. Bud Barrick was the big Competition Red Chili Winner, with Candy Knight coming in
2nd
and Dan Hall taking 3rd
. Eddie Love, Hogeye Chili was the 1st
place Show winner, Travis
Tonzie, Cowboy Chili coming in 2nd
and Carol Knight, Racing Pigs finishing a strong 3rd
. If I had
to say, everyone deserved a show prize with all the enthusiasm they displayed!
That evening, Scott and I had one of the first good night’s sleep in a long time; after all, it was in
the hands of a larger power! Sunday morning, we headed to the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum
in central Phoenix, in a mist of dense fog, yet another weather anomaly our out-of-town visitors
were so lucky to witness. Guess we tried to give both the Seahawks and Patriots a “real” home
game experience! We ushered into the coliseum, and went through obtaining our credentials in
a matter of minutes, then were sent outside to load onto a bus, which transported us to the
Cardinal’s arena. We then walked in, scanning our credentials and entered one of the most
magnificent city within a city outdoors! In the grand scope of project management, the attention
to details and the overall experience for attendees and workers alike was unsurpassed.
We began unloading chili’s from the refrigerated truck and delivering to 1 of 24 chili booths
centrally located about 150’ from the main stage in which Dierks Bentley and Gavin McGraw
who would later entertain to our delight. Without notice, the fog began to lift and burn off, the
announcement came, “It’s go time, gates are opening, let’s have fun”. VIP attendees began
filling the event, walking through our where our chili cooks were proudly enticing people to come
taste and vote on their chili. Some celebrities were noticed, some even stopped to take pictures
with our chili superstars! Soon the event began winding down, chili was running out and the day
we had all been waiting for was coming to a close. Voting ended and winning overall was Chili
de Political (Vegetarian) Dave and Sandi Garner, Amy Garner and John Driscoll, 2nd was Chili

3. Con Carnes 2 (Pork) Lisa Stone, Terry Foresman, Delfino and Christina Flores and coming in
3rd was 4th & Goal (Chicken) Donna Conrad, Dianne Stimson, Jana and Loyd Hamilton.
In the end, it was an experience of a lifetime for most, was it hard work, yes, but looking back,
what we did was an incredible feat mastered by volunteers who wanted to be a part of a
monumental event that the entire world watches. Personally, I’d do it again and I’d love to do it
again with the incredible new friends I made over the course of the last couple of weeks!
Lastly, we did help other organizations benefit through our efforts. Raymond S. Kellis Culinary
program received all our remaining perishable ingredients, some loose leftover canned goods
and spices and some of the equipment used, in which they plan on hosting a chili luncheon for
the faculty to raise money for their program. All left over chili from Sunday’s event, used
cambros and remaining unused product and equipment were donated to local charity Waste Not
of AZ, which feeds homeless and people in shelters. We made an incredible impact and
impression locally!
I want to thank each and every team that stuck it out and conceded to a white shirt and tan pant
dress code! Also, to our dear friends and family for helping an organization that Scott and I
dearly support. Equally important, a deep appreciation to all our terrific sponsors whom, without
their generous donations, our chili would have been missing some very important ingredients. A
special and personal thank you to Donna Conrad and Ted Fichtl for all your hard work and
support throughout!
Super Bowl VIP Tailgate Teams:
Queen Creek Guys (Beef) – John Banas, John Bronson, Scott Hamilton, Chris Cannon
Insane Chili Posse (Beef) – Kalen Halter, Kurt Halter, Carson Smith, Matt Holcombe
Terlingua Knights (Beef) – Richard Knight, Carol Knight, Candi Arevalo, Kristi Knight
Chili Con Carnes 3 (Beef) – Cathy Edmonson, Gaye Jaco
Oregon Trail 4 (Beef) – Bobby Elliott, Matthew Elliott, David Elliott
Fat Head Chili (Beef) – Kristin Keith, Darrin Keith, Dave Luckett
4th
and Goal (Chicken) – Donna Conrad, Dianne Stimson, Jana Hamilton, Loyd Hamilton (this
team prepared 2 batches to cover team that had to drop out last minute)
Texas & Alaska Chili (Chicken) – Debbie Ashman, Steve Ashman, Mike Park
TimBuck2 (Chicken) – Tim Collier, Connie Collier, Doug Seelig, Carolyn Seelig
Are you Ready for Chicken Chili (Chicken) – Steve Sigler, Jenifer Goodyear, Val Velitschkowski,
Randall Lett
Dizzy Pig (Chicken) – Jenny & Jack Windsor
Sonoran Heat (Pork) – Served by Bud Barrick & David Elliott, cooked by Ted & Sunny Fichtl &
Tom & Nancy Klug
Bay of Pigs (Pork) – Ken Brown, Jeff Goekler, Dan Nall, Jay McCleery
Alchemist Chili (Pork) – Jerry Lee, Sandy Lee, Jeri Gutierrez, Phillip Gutierrez
Chili Chili Bang Bang (Pork) – Jessie Waguespack, Jeannette Cardenas, Annette Rodriquez,
Manny Rodriquez
Chili Con Carnes 2 (Pork) – Lisa Stone, Terry Foresman, Delfino Flores, Christi Flores
Desert Demons (Pork) – Ted Fichtl, Sunny Fichtl, Tom Klug, Nancy Klug
Queen Creek Gals (Vegetarian) – Karen Banas, Tina Cannon, Tracy Hamilton
Chili de Politico “Correcta” (Vegetarian) – Dave Garner “Mad Jack”, Sandi Garner, John Driscoll,
Amy Garner
Can’t Beat No Meat (Vegetarian) – Roland Regeon, Stacy Wells, Dave Reid, Brandy Reid
Chili Con Carnes 1 (Vegetarian) – Dianne Lewis, Pat Lewis, Elaine Garza, Tom Garza
Kiltlifter Chili Company (Vegetarian) – Ron Kennedy, Kathy Kennedy, Art Grandpre

4. That’s Rall Chili (Vegetarian) – Scott Schwartzbauer, Billy Felsot, Frank Fedigan
Volunteers:
Tom & Donolyn Richardson
Dana Buchanan
Mark & Belinda Walters
Dave Luckett
Darrin & Kristen Keith
Brent Fisher
Kendra Russell
Mark Bool
Kyle Lewis & Malerie Garcia
Pat Herold
Art Grandpre
Billy Felsot
Scott Schwartzbauer (new CASI member)
Brian & Amanda Hurley
Frank Fedigan
Frances O’Leary
Malia Richards
Jennifer Laird
Donna Conrad
Dianne Stimson
Jenny Windsor
Ted & Sonny Fichtl
Roland Rageon
Sponsors:
Cabela’s
H-E-B
Tyson Fresh Meats / IMP
Raeford Company / Tyson
Lone Star Spices
Fiesta Spices
Mild Bill’s Spices
Goya Company
Amigo Meats
Auto Zone
Passin’ Time Outdoors
Soho Brewery
Omega Landscaping
Quotes:
“It was an honor to be invited to participate as a judge in the CASI Chili Appreciation
Society of Arizona’s Chili Cook-Off over Super Bowl weekend. It’s always great to
participate in fun and entertaining fundraisers that benefit multiple charities in our
community.”
Councilmember Jamie Aldama

5. City of Glendale – Ocotillo District
“I truly appreciate all of the time and effort put in by CASI to make the Chili Cook Off a
success. Everything ran smoothly, and it was a great addition to the NFL Tailgate
Party.”
Emily Anderson
NFL Event Planners