Home
29th ANNUAL SERTOMA CLUBS’ CHILI COOK-OFF
Saturday, February 13, 2010
11AM – 5 PM
Springfield Expo Center
625 St. Louis St.
The love of chili will fill the air on Valentine’s Eve – Saturday February 13th—at the 29th annual Sertoma Chili Cook-Off at the Springfield Expo Center. The event, which is a benefit for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield, will feature food, refreshments and performances by nine local bands on two stages.
Advance tickets are $12, at all area Dillon’s and Price Cutter markets, Casey’s convenience stores, online, and from members of any chili team. Admission at the door will be $15. Click the “Buy Now” button above and receive a free coat check! Everyone admitted is given a bowl and spoon and can sample chili at as many of the 80 booths as they wish. Drinks and snacks are also available. Last year, about 8000 people attended the Cook-Off.
Trophies and awards are presented for Best Chili, Best Booth, Best Costumes, Showmanship and “The Fattest Fishbowl” based on cash contributions and fund raising efforts by individual teams. The public also has an opportunity to vote for the “People’s Choice” chili.
Doors to the Expo Center will open at 11 AM, and the event will end with the trophy presentation at 5 PM. An invitation-only Cooks Party will be held on Friday night, from 7 to 11 PM, as the various teams set up and decorate their booths. Two bands, the Pspringfield Psychos and Highway 13, will perform during the invitation-only Cook’s Party.
The Chili Cook-Off will utilize all of both floors of the Expo Center. Music, chili booths, beer gardens and snacks will be available on both levels. New this year, an enhanced sound system and two 10 by 14 foot video screens will allow patrons to participate more fully in the often crowded festivities.
A large silent auction will be conducted until 2 PM, and the popular Chili Eating Contest, with local broadcast celebrities competing, will take place on the main Event Stage at 2 PM.
New this year, Sertoma is partnering with other youth-oriented charities in Springfield to conduct a massive 50/50 raffle. Those charitable groups will be selling raffle tickets for $10. Half of the proceeds will go to the winner’s pot, to be announced during the Chili Cook-Off – the other half will be retained by the charity selling the tickets. Raffle tickets will be on sale mid-January.
This is the fifth year that FedEx Freight has been the presenting sponsor for the Chili Cook-Off. Since the first Chili Cook-Off 29 years ago, the event has raised more than $1.5 million for local charities. Proceeds this year will go toward an energy management system at the Musgrave Boys & Girls Club, to summer programs and the Youth Employment Opportunities program for teen job-training.
(Entry form and floor layouts below)
2010 Consolidated Rulebooklet
2010 Entry Form
Upper Floor Layout
Expo Level Layout
