Wild game dinner and hot wings contest brings out fiery nature of people
CHILI – The annual wild game dinner and hot wings contest in Chili brings out the fiery nature of people from all over Coshocton County and even surrounding communities. This year was no exception as the smell of secret sauces hit the refractories on entering the church – parking lot. Yep. It’s always a fun event and 12 year old Logan Ponte, who won the youth eating contest, said, “My strategy was just to eat ‘em all. I mean – I feel good about it too.” Last year he ate eight wings and the winner this year was determined by who ate the most ounces. Ponte was going to wear his winners’ tee shirt to school on Monday with pride.
Mike Bechtol, who reclaimed the title as winner of the adult category by eating 21.1 ounces of wings, said, “I don’t want to give away all my secrets but I didn’t eat much this morning and I drank lots of water to keep the stomach big and stretched out and it paid off.” Bechtol said. “The wings were hot this year – as they are every year.” He added when asked about someone wanting to take the title next year, “Bring it on.”
Rachel Hershberger, who won first place in the wing contest, said, “We marinated and grilled the wings. I made my own barbecue sauce. This was my first time to participate. I don’t know about next year yet – I love how the Chili community church loves the community. They love ‘em and they feed ‘em and they treat us like family.” The hot wing contest was judged by local elected officials and dignitaries including State Senator Jay Hottinger.
Julie Dearyan, wife of Pastor Neal Dearyan, said this about why she thinks people like the event, “It’s just a great community thing. We all kind of have this common ground. Even though I’m from Chicago and I’ve really never been into all this stuff, I’m getting into it. It’s really cool.”
“I think people here look forward to this all year. As people in the area and from our church are hunting they’re getting game for the dinner. People in our church are excited just to see people coming out and getting together. It’s something different.”
mark@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
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