KILGORE, Texas (KLTV) - The World’s Richest Acre in Downtown Kilgore was renamed today to Chiliville. The spin on Margaritaville was the theme for this year’s East Texas Oilmen’s Chili Cook-off. And it was a pretty heated competition.
Sixty-six oil and gas companies set up the day before to start cooking their best chili before sunrise. For ten dollars anyone could sample it all or try to. But, according to East Texas Treatment Center Director of Marketing Angela Sampson, the judges will try all of them, and sample some twice.
“They’re volunteers and many of them have been doing this for years,” Sampson said.
Large cups of chili are randomly numbered so judges don’t know who made what. They share the chili cups using a new spoon every bite.
“And then every year I try to put a little new blood in it just to keep it going,” Sampson said.
And Insurance Salesman William Heiney is that new blood. It’s his first year judging Chili.
“Is it difficult to tell the difference?” I asked him.
“You know, I would say no. Each guy’s got his own little recipe here. They’ve worked hard at it. And you can tell they’re all a little different,” Heiney said.
They use more than water to neutralize taste buds.
“We got some crackers here and we got some of theses good old grapes that taste pretty good,” Heiney said.
“So. What’s the secret in the grapes?” I asked Sampson.
“They just help cleanse the palate,” Sampson said.
“I noticed in the beginning a lot of folks were taking a really big bite. Do you think that’s a good idea?” I asked Heiney.
“I mean, it depends on what you can handle there,” Heiney said.
And attendees also got all they can handle and even vote on their favorite. The judges whittle down to the top 20, and sample again for the win. That’s a lot of chili. And finally:
“Did they save the best for last?” I asked Heiney.
“You know, they might have,” Heiney said.
Maybe tasty, but not the winner. That was number 57, Drover/Oilflo. And the People’s Choice went to U.S. Energy and Supply. Then for all the participants it was time to chili out until next year.
Proceeds from entry fees and the gate help fund the East Texas Treatment Center and several other nonprofits. The tally for this year isn’t in yet, but last year they raised over a hundred thousand dollars.