Thanks for the info, Bonny.

.....

TODAY:mmmm:

You nailed it. That is what it was like. The place was gridlocked. We'll stay home another year.

In 2011 the chili cook-off was split between SS and LSL and the crowds were manageable. This year it was at just LSL and combined with the Home and Garden Show. Too crowded.

I wonder what the reason is for the compaction of the chili cook-off and the combining with home and garden show? Whoever is in charge must have known it would be a mob scene.

Reminds me of a famous quote by Yogi Berra. When asked why he had stopped going to Roggen's restaurant in St Louis , his comment was " no one ever goes there anymore , it's too crowded". The event was a great success and numerous local charities wii benefit greatly. Thanks to all spent the day with us for such a worthy cause.:coolsmiley:

Well worth it. Just get in a line and go with the flow. Weather could not have been better. Many booths went all out trying to do something different. The pumpkin chili was very interesting to say the least. TV Culinary School went a little overboard on the hot sauce for my tastes and I like things on the hot side. The one that added navy beans to the regular chili was a little odd but not bad.

I got in one line for BBQ pulled pork slider samples that were given out before the 12:00 start and when the I got to the front they pulled out a rack of rib. I told the guy in front of me they should just pass the entire rack back her I can do some real damage to it. The guy cut up the rack and started passing them out. Not bad going to a chili cook off and get to sample ribs.

All in all a lot of people and a lot of money raised. I need to figure out how to become a judge and one of these events.

VG

It was a great time at Lake Sumter Landing today for the Chili Cook-Off. The weather could not have been better.

I found parking for my golf cart without trouble. It was crowded but not suffocating by any means. The chili was from no good at some booths to very good at others. I would get my sample from one booth and eat it while in line for the next booth. No problem at all.

Rotary Club did a fantastic job in setting this up. The $5 donations will really help a lot of charities.

I just cannot believe there are grumps who do not support such events in The Villages.

It was great! Yes, it was crowded, but without the crowds...it wouldn't be an event! Didn't have too much trouble finding a parking space...just waited for someone walking through the parking lot, and then trailed them. We really enjoyed it. The weather was perfect and the food was really good. Very enjoyable day.

Sounds To Me Like The Organizers...
 

...required the competitors to be a little, or maybe a whole lot more crowd friendly. In some prior years, if you got there any more than a half hour after the tasting started, almost every booth was out of chili and already packing up to go home. The ticket sellers would gladly take your $5 admission at the boundary fences, but failed to tell you that almost everyone was out of anything to taste. My guess is that this year the contestants were told that they had to prepare a generous amount of chili for tasting by the public. That was a wise move. I'm really glad it went so well this year. That speaks well for future years' events. Next year I'll probably return, with a renewed expectation that I'll actually be able to taste some chili.

YAY !!! The Parrot Heads won Peoples Choice for the best chili !! WoO Hoo !!!

I arrived at 12:15 and finding a parking spot was impossible. Silly me...thought that would be a good time to arrive because I knew the tasting started at noon. I feel terribly guilty but I parked at Sweetbay. Please forgive me, Sweetbay, but I didn't even go into the store at all.

I had a great time and was in awe of the crowd. I've never seen LSL that crowded but I've never attended an "event" there so this was an eye opener. Met some nice folks on the lines as we traversed the chili booths.

I noticed some of the booths were out of chili at 1:30. One fellow told me they prepared 15 gallons of chili and were completely out by then. So glad many local charities will benefit from the great time we all had. Looking forward to going next year but I'll certainly arrive earlier.

We tried to attend. Drove around all the parking lots for 20 minutes trying to find a spot. Everything was packed solid and this was before noon! Decided to give up and let the snowbirds and renters enjoy. We have all year to attend events.

Our sincere thanks and humble appreciation for all those who attended yesterday. This event is a massive effort by rotarians and others who volunteer to help because they believe as we do in our motto "Service Above Self" The funds raised will benefit numerous charities and many scholarships for recipients in and around "the bubble"

Sincerely,
The Rotary Club of the Villages( morning):bowdown:

Like you, I'll stay home and eat the leftovers I made for our Super Bowl Party. Went to the Chili cookoff only once. It wasn't the crowds that kept me away ever since, actually it was the chili. Recollection is that about 9 out of ten were virtually inedible.

It was, once again, a fantastic event.