Golden Eagle, Hannibal JC’s Celebrate Chili Cookoff Winners

Hannibal's first party opportunity of 2022 was a rousing success.

Golden Eagle Distributing and the Hannibal Jaycees hosted the 38th annual Chili Cookoff Saturday at the Admiral Coontz Recreation Center.

There were six teams who all earnestly believed they had the best chili in the whole wide world.

The half-dozen team competed for cash prizes, and when the votes were in, these were the winners:

First Place - Rumor Has It - Gary Dittmer, Natasha Meininger, Toni Murphy

Second Place - Box Car Willy Chili - Ron Knutelski, Chris Hooley, Richard Tate

Third Place - Kupp of Beans - Scott Stevens, Jeremy Wolfe

Costume Contest Winner - The Nutters - Brian Griffen, Kim Barry, Jestin Nutter, Steve Nutter

First place was worth $1,000, second place took $500, third place was worth $250. The costume contest winner also got $250.

This year the chili cookoff benefited Kids in Motion, a program of Douglass Community Services. KIM provides a short-term summer program for pre-teen youth to explore employment opportunities and learn skills.

In 2021, 50 youth from Hannibal and Bowling Green were a part of Kids in Motion.

In the program, they learned the values of teamwork, cooperation and successfully completing assigned volunteer tasks.