First-time competitors spice up Moul Field at Chili Cookoff

Several first-time competitors were among the crowds brought to Moul Field to enjoy the various flavors and entertainment of the 27th annual Chili Cookoff.

Ricky Weaver Jr., of Hanover, was one of those competing for the first time in the cookoff.

Weaver Jr., who has been coming to the chili cookoff regularly as a patron, was ecstatic to finally take part with his family under the team name “Ricky Racer Chili.”

“It’s been a bucket list item for me,” Weaver Jr. said, clad in a chili-pattern shirt, apron, and chef’s hat as he cooked his sweet n’ spicy chili with his father, Ricky Weaver Sr., also of Hanover.

Joining the Weaver family in being a first-time competitor was Clair’s Family Restaurant, a staple of the Hanover area since 1976.

Amber Golden, current owner of Clair’s Family Restaurant in Penn Township, entered her business into the commercial division of the competition.

The chili served by Golden and her crew at the cookoff is the same sweet, signature chili sold every day at the restaurant.

“It’s been the same recipe for 50 years,” she said of the recipe created by her grandfather, Clair Markey, the original owner of Clair’s.

While the Weaver family and Clair’s were just two of the many new competitors taking part this year, countless longtime competitors remained in the competition, too.

Cory Heikel, of Mechanicsburg, was back for yet another year of competing with his "Mississippi half-step uptown toodeloo chili.”

What keeps Heikel coming back every year? “It’s a lot of fun,” said Heikel, an avid chili cookoff competitor, as he hustled to finish several different categories of chili at once ahead of the deadline to turn in samples for the judges.

This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Chili Cookoff spices up Moul Field