Windsor Chili Cook-Off honors those lost on 9/11

The Windsor Chamber of Commerce served healthy helpings of patriotism and community spirit Saturday afternoon, mixed with meat, beans and spices, at the town’s annual Chili Cook-Off on the Windsor Town Green.

The event began with a salute to those who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when two hijacked planes crashed into and destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center. A third plane hit the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Some 2,750 people were killed in New York, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania.

“This is definitely the weekend to honor those of our brothers and sisters who fell at the towers,” including first responders, said Karen Hancock, the Sonoma County Fire District’s community outreach specialist.

The fire district’s prevention team Chili Cook-Off crew, one of 25 teams participating in the event, was working on what they called “Defensible Space Chili,” named after the fire prevention term for clearing an area to curb wildfires.

Chili chefs competed in two divisions: traditional, without beans, and homestyle, with beans.

“We are doing a traditional chili this year, without beans and with three kinds of meat, plus our secret blend of herbs and spices,” Hancock said.

The opening ceremony featured a flag color guard made up of three 13-year-old Windsor Boy Scouts: Colton Haynes and twins Hunter and Brayden Sales.

“This our first time doing this,” Haynes said. “We wanted to come out and show our support for the community.”

“It’s pretty cool to do stuff like this,” Hunter Sales added. “The Scouts want to help.”

Stephanie Beard sang “America the Beautiful” at the beginning of the program and Carmen Mitchell followed later with “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Claudio Calvo, 72, who served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam in 1969, led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Calvo declared himself in favor of spicing up food, an appropriate sentiment for a chili contest.

“In Vietnam, the C-rations were terrible so when people sent us packages from home, we always wanted Tabasco sauce,” he said. “Tabasco gave it flavor.”

Not all of the contestants aimed for high heat in their recipes. The cook-off team from Windsor’s Mutt Lynch Winery termed its chili, mixed with sliced, grilled hot dogs, “family friendly.” The Moonjumpers team, a group of longtime friends from Windsor and Healdsburg, described their entry as “not too spicy.”

There were 10 teams entered in the traditional chili division and 15 in the homestyle division, said Leah Scurto, owner of the Pizzaleah restaurant in Windsor, who supervised the 10 judges for the event.

The Cook-Off also featured more than 20 vendors, said Jim Curry, board chairman of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce. Founded in 2010, the annual Chili Cook-Off was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. Saturday’s was the ninth event.

“We sold out last year,” Curry said. This year, organizers were planning for a maximum attendance of 800.

The beneficiary for this year’s fundraiser is the WE Mentor HEROS mentoring program started in the fall of 2021 by the Windsor Educational Foundation. The program supports Windsor children who have faced many recent educational challenges by connecting them with high school mentors.

The event had the all the trappings of a traditional hometown celebration, including an appearance by Miss California, Catherine Liang, who grew up in Windsor.

But not everyone who showed up was local. Alan Conder of Livermore was in Windsor on a family vacation.

“We heard about it at a local store and it sounded like fun to check it out,” he said. “I enjoy chili. We like it hot.”

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.