Veterans support group Rolling Thunder, Inc.’s Medina chapter recently held its annual chili cook-off, and crowned Dennis Hanwell, the mayor of Medina, as its latest chili king, according to an article in the Medina Gazette.
Mayor Hanwell faced stiff competition from other cooks, including other officials such as Carol Carter, the mayor of Seville, Ohio and Brian Ousley, a councilman from Brunswick. The mayor’s chili received the largest number of votes from visitors to the cook-off. Events like this are the perfect place for organizers to use banner printing to create great decorations.
The mayor thanked his girlfriend Kristie Sawastuk and his son John, who helped him prepare his crowd-pleasing chili. Sawastuk was the one who suggested adding roasted vegetables and bacon to the dish, saying “roasted vegetables make it.”
Although he did not win this year, Ousley has walked away with the crown in the past, and says what he likes best about the event is the fun of competing against other cooks. Unlike Sawastuk, Ousley would not reveal any of his secret ingredients, though he admitted he cooked his chili for days.
Carter said her chili had about 15lb of meat in it, and that she made a big batch of the chili in what turned out to be a very messy kitchen. She put in ground beef, sausage, turkey, and a lot of tomatoes, as well as tomato puree, then gave the kitchen a much-needed clean.