We Got Snow!

Last week we watched in dismay as most of our snow just melted away. How can we have Winterfest without snow!? Well, the weather cooperated and we received just enough fresh snow on Friday and Saturday to turn our event into a true Winterfest!

The horse-drawn wagon ride around the neighbourhood was a blast as neighbours stopped their cars or ran out of their houses, pulling out cameras and cell phones, and waving at us as we passed. We felt like we were on some kind of parade float and waved enthusiastically at our neighbours. We even tried to invite some neighbours to join us on the wagon ride, but they were too shy. Dexter and Daisy were our guests of honour from St Jacobs Horse Drawn Tours and behaved beautifully, and our coachmen/guides (Dave and Rob) were very friendly.

There was enough for snow for outdoor fun, with kids and adults tobogganing down the slope outside our church, and snow spray painting for the more artistic.

Indoor fun included crokinole, shuffleboard, card and board games, colouring activities and catching-up conversations.

Our chili cook-off was a huge hit. Thanks to our 10 chefs who competed at our second chili cook-off! Our competitors were, in random order:

 1.  Jennifer Wolf

 2.  Jen King

 3.  Victoria Dobson

 4.  Randy Buhrow

 5.  Gillian Fenske

 6.  Kyle Main aka Wendy

 7.  Paul Wolf

 8.  Lisa Coates-Cameron

 9.  Brenda Kumornik

 10. Tim Lee

The chili was amazing, sometimes daring, always delicious. With “secret” ingredients like wild boar, bison and venison, mealworms, and crickets, there were many creative dishes, which made the judging difficult.  All attendees were given 10 kidney beans for voting, and our official bean counters carefully tabulated the winning chili. And the winner was Lisa Coates-Cameron by a wide margin, but the next three chilis (2nd, 3rd, 4th) were only 8 beans apart so second place (Jennifer Wolf) was a close race! Click here to watch the crowning of our chili champ!