2016-02-20 11th Annual Ozello Craft Fair & Chili Cook-Off

There is a small dot on the west coast of Florida's map that represents a tight-knit fishing village/community called Ozello.  It is Florida's best kept secret and we, as Nature Coast residents, are the ones lucky enough to call this place "a little slice of old Florida".  As kayak anglers, this is Heaven on Earth with kayak launch spots all up and down Ozello Trail with access to Snook, Trout, and Redfish within a one mile paddle from any of those sites.  It is Paradise and we love to spend a lot of time on the water there.

It just so happens that several of our NCLA club members live in Ozello and are part of the various community fundraisers.  One of the ladies told us that one of the most popular attractions is the Annual Ozello Craft Show & Chili Cook-Off.  She thought that maybe it would be something fun for us, as a group, to get involved in so we checked it out. Then, an e-mail went out to all of the members to see how many would be willing to support such a function and we received an immediate response back from Lori & Rita, two of our members who are co-workers and good friends.  Their response went something like this, "We've been known to compete in various chili cook-offs and have taken home a trophy or two!"  And after digging a little deeper, they agreed to represent the NCLA by entering their trophy winning recipe in the 11th Annual Chili Cook-Off this year.  This was a first for us and a very exciting endeavor.     GAME ON !!

We knew how to get to Ozello and just followed the signs to the Craft Show.  There were volunteers there every few yards directing drivers into the free parking area, but once we arrived, we wondered how we were going to find Lori and Rita. once we got past the entry gate.  It just so happened, though, that as we were checking the weather report for the day, a text came in from Rita with directions to their Chili Station - that was very helpful info.

It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.  All of the venders and crafters had arrived early to set up their booths under tents and were ready to sell their wares.  Lots of folks were already strolling around the grounds taking in all of the new and interesting items that were being displayed.  But for us, there would be plenty of time for that.  Our mission was to find Lori & Rita's chili booth.

Our intention was to make a B-line straight to Lori & Rita's chili booth, but without knowing exactly where that was, we had to stop and ask for directions.  We wanted to be sure we were heading the right way.  The minutes we stopped however......shiny, sparking crafty gadgets drew our focus away from our plan and we justified that spontaneous detour by telling ourselves that there really wasn't any major rush to find the girls.  A 5-10 minute delay to inspect a few creative masterpieces wouldn't cause any harm and so we succumbed to the temptation and did a little window shopping along the way.

It wasn't long before we ran into Lori & Rita proudly standing behind a crock-pot full of their award winning chili.  The competition hadn't officially started yet, though, so they gave us a run-down of how the voting process worked.

By 9:00 a.m., a line had formed at the ticket booth.  Those folks were waiting to get their chance to taste each chili recipe and cast their vote for their favorite.  The line got longer as the minutes ticked away.  We managed to pull Lori and Rita away from their crock-pot station just long enough to get a photo of them under the Ozello Chili-Cook-Off sign and sent them back to represent.  It looked like they were going to have lots of mouths to feed.

By 10:00 a.m., we had run into a number of our NCLA members who had come out to support for the Ozello Craft Show and Lori and Rita at the Chili Cook-Off in particular.  We managed to pull most (not all) of them together for a quick group photo before they disperse once again to go perusing craft tables and vendors.

So by days end, there had been hundreds of folks that paid their dues to sample each of the chili recipes that were presented for the competition.  Crock pots ran empty pretty quick.  The rule was that as soon as one sample was completely gone, the competition was over and by the ending tally, our gals knew where they stood.  They were disappointed that they came in 4th, but given the fact that it was their first time competing against this group of about 20 contestants, we say that 4th Place was pretty darn good and we're proud of their effort.  We just know that next year, we'll have to bring in reinforcements!