Fall leaves, pumpkins, cool air and chili! It’s almost time, once again, for the Annual Rotary Chili Cook-off! Come join us for all the chili-tasting fun on from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday on the Bluff across from the Natchez Grand Hotel! Purchase a chili tasting kit for just $5 to sample all the great chili recipes from local businesses, organizations and friends. If you have one or more favorite chili recipes, you can purchase as many People’s Choice ballots for $1 each to cast extra votes to help your favorite recipe win!

In addition to delicious chili, there will be home-brew beer tasting, root beer floats, a children’s area with a blow up slide and much more. Purchase a $5 wristband and watch your children have a blast! The silent auction will include a Millennium M150 Monster Hang-on deer stand from Jim Willard and many wonderful items donated by local businesses and artists.

And guess what? It’s not too late to sign up your chili- cooking team, become a sponsor or donate a silent auction item. Please contact Doug Wimberly at 601-660-4671 for more information. There will be a “best decorated booth” award for the most creative theme and decorated booth for entrants, and we will host a Best Halloween costume contest for children under 12 and for fun-loving adults.

Most importantly, bring your cash or checkbook to support a fantastic cause — the Natchez Children’s Home Services. With its 200th anniversary upcoming in 2016, NCHS provides many crucial services for children and their families in this area. Included among the services provided are:

4Individual, group and family counseling

4Day treatment classes for 4 and 5 year olds

4“Darkness to Light” training for adults who work with children

4Advocacy and education for at-risk children of all ages and their families.

4Children’s Advocacy Center, a safe, friendly environment for child victims of sexual and physical abuse to tell their story

4Victim advocacy for children

The Chili Cook-Off is now an annual event Rotary holds for Natchez Children’s Home Services. Some other community organizations the Natchez Rotary Club supports are Catholic Charities, Children’s Christmas Tree Fund, Humane Society, Relay for Life, Habitat for Humanity, Stewpot and Pleasant Acre Day School. Some community development projects are Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration, Natchez Festival of Music, Natchez Little Theatre, Friends of the Library, Leadership Natchez, Community Alliance and the Chamber of Commerce. Rotary provides scholarships and supports other youth services.

The main objective of Rotary is to identify community needs locally, nationally and overseas, and then leverage our resources to enable solutions. This is why the Natchez Rotary Club relies heavily on membership and community support to achieve its goals. Please come out and support our efforts to raise needed money for Natchez Children’s Home Services and its important programs. Get your taste buds ready! See you on Oct. 31!

 

Hayden Kaiser is a Natchez Rotarian.