 
          
            2015 LOGAN COUNTY FAIR              LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com           August 2-9, 2015               page 143
          
        
        
          Some like it hot, some not: Judges
        
        
          and fair-goers pick ‘just-right chili’
        
        
          If you like the combination of food, fun, friends and
        
        
          family, the annual chili cook-off at the Logan County
        
        
          Fair is the place to be.
        
        
          This year’s cook-off had 10 teams including many vet-
        
        
          eran teams and a couple first-timers. A lot of bantering
        
        
          occurs between these teams who have very friendly
        
        
          rivalries.  As with other fair events, the cook-off has
        
        
          become a tradition for many of the teams as well as
        
        
          many Lincoln residents.
        
        
          Last year’s champion Dave Eyrse of Sugar Chili said he
        
        
          came back this year to defend his title.  He states that
        
        
          his chili is a little spicy, made with a variety of meats--
        
        
          deer, pork, and ground beef. Eyrse declares that chili is
        
        
          fun to cook because you can do what you want with it.
        
        
          Long time participant Geri Mollohan uses dry beans
        
        
          and soaks them overnight.  She also adds in red, or-
        
        
          ange, yellow, and green peppers in addition to Jalapeno
        
        
          peppers, onions, ground beef, and hot sauces. In the 10
        
        
          years she has participated, she has placed, but has not
        
        
          won first place.  Mollohan considers the cook off a fun
        
        
          family tradition at the fair.
        
        
          Team Bushwhacker’s Merlin and Lacey Horath, who
        
        
          have participated for three years and won best presen-
        
        
          tation last year, use a blend of beef and venison plus
        
        
          sweet banana, red, and bell peppers along with toma-
        
        
          toes, homemade chili sauce, and lots of spices. They
        
        
          noted that almost everything, aside from the beans, is
        
        
          homegrown and even the beef, which won carcass class
        
        
          last year, is from the nearby Schwantz farm.
        
        
          Last year’s second place winners Jim and Sandy Bobell
        
        
          of Team Miller Lite have returned for a second year.
        
        
          They use a special blend of seasonings and spices in
        
        
          their chili.  Since their children are grown and no
        
        
          longer showing pigs, the Bobells really enjoy partici-
        
        
          pating in the cook off.
        
        
          Continued
        
        
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