Manyberries about to return to some spicy times

Six years after their centennial celebration and after a two year break, the Manyberries Community association is excited to turn up the heat with the return of the much-beloved Chili Cook Off.

A longstanding tradition for the past 22 years, the cook-off has gone from a few people getting together to one of the community's best fundraisers.

“It's just kind of grown bigger and bigger all the time,” said Marlene Bodin, a member of the Manyberries Community Association. “We usually have up to 12 teams doing the cook off, making the chili and such. And then it's open to the public, they taste it. Then we have a silent auction and then a dance usually after so yeah, it's our biggest fundraiser of the year.”

The funds raised go towards maintenance of the community hall, a vital fixture of Manyberries.

This year's event features the Phoenix Band for the dance, as well as the return of the silent auction. The community hall doors open to the public at approximately 4 p.m, said Bodin, as to give the cooks a chance to finish making their chili.

“It's nice to see everybody and get together. Some people don't go out much. So then when they do go to a dance or something, they really enjoy it,” said Bodin.

Bodin notes that while the cook-off is usually in April, it wasn't feasible to get everything together in only a month following the lifting of public health measures. This year's event is planned for June 25th.

“It's a lot of work to kind of organize it, but it always comes together with good volunteers helping out,” said Bodin. “We couldn't really do something in a month, so we thought we'd try in June and see how that works out and what happens. Usually we do have a good turnout.”