12TH ANNUAL CHILI COOK OFF RAISES $1,800

RED OAK – The Red Oak High School marching band was a winner in more ways than one Friday night at the 12th annual Barb Gray Memorial Chili Cook-Off. 

Sponsored by the Red Oak Express, the chili competition raised $1,801 which will be used to purchase new uniforms for an incoming freshman class that is expected to add 10 additional musicians to next year’s high school marching band. 

But the band won in more ways than one Friday night, as their chili entry, prepared by Brenda Vrba, also took home first place honors in the judges’ competition. 

“Great flavor, perfect amount of spices and good texture,” one judge wrote about the entry, which featured pieces of pork tenderloin. 

The Red Oak Rotary Club’s entry, prepared by Ivan Miller, finished in second place in the judges’ competition and won the People’s Choice award for most money collected for the sixth consecutive year. 

The Rotary Club collected $681 in donations Friday, although they were challenged this year by Fresco, which raised $398. Car Groom, a first time entry, finished third in the people’s choice competition with $119.76. 

Barr Tire finished third in the judges’ competition. 

Other competitors in the cook-off included the Kiwanis Club, Hy-Vee, Fareway, Dovel Refigeration and Appliance and the Red Oak Fire Department. 

The Red Oak Express hosts the event annually on the last Red Oak Tiger home football game. All proceeds are donated to a different organization each year. 

The event was renamed after Barb Gray, a sales representative at the Express who helped start the first chili cook-off and organized it throughout the years until her death in 2010.