Rotary donates 20 grand to Youth Soccer

POLSON – There might not be anything hotter than tasting the prize-winning meal waiting inside a bowl of beans, meat and perfectly-blended spices from the 2014 Polson Chili cook-off: Except maybe the $20,000 the cook-off raised and donated to the Polson Youth Soccer league Sept. 2.

John Triolo, Rotary Club of Polson President gave the check to Polson Youth Soccer’s Sarah Smith for use on the new area soccer field.

Rotarians are well known for their hard-working dedication to their mission: Service Above Self.  

For about eight years chili cook-off proceeds paid for youth-service improvements that helped increase the quality of service to area kids.

Rotarian money purchased a van for the Boys and Girls club, helped build the Mission Valley Aquatics Center pool and locker rooms and assisted the ASA Girls Softball program in making field improvements.

This year, the money will help youth soccer organizers build their new fields so they can host tournament soccer in the future.

Rotarians start gearing up for the yearly cook-off each spring. This year’s organizers were Michael and Marie Auten, who got most of the organizational chores completed; and Keith Urbach, who told everyone where to go, and when to get there.

“Each spring we solicit applications,” Triolo said “they are usually related to some kind of youth project.”

Rotarians then choose their designated charity and begin chili cook-off preparations.

“The money we get from the chili cook-off comes from the support of the community through raffle ticket sales.We get a tremendous amount of support from the community,” he said.

Rotarians also get a tremendous amount of help from the business community, which donates a variety of items to be given away to raffle-ticket winners.

Chili-cook-off attendees can buy a taster kit at the event and take their cup to all or some of the cook-off participants for tastes. Tasters also get a People’s Choice vote.

This year Rotarians hosted 14 entrants.

Once all the hard work is complete, the chili-cook-off begins.

“It is a community thing, a fun day. We have a bounce house,” Triolo said. “We had a water slide but didn’t get it going because the weather was too cold. The Polson High School cheerleaders came out and did face painting. We try to make it family oriented so the kids get into it.”

Four volunteer team members cooked their own version of Polson’s best chili at the four-hour cook-off Aug. 23.

Each of the 14 teams created two gallons of chili and used exclusively fresh ingredients prepared during the cook-off hours.

Sixteen ounces of chili was collected for judging, and the rest was given out to folks who purchased taster kits at the event.

Winners were:

First place: Polson Youth Soccer

Second place: Polson Fire Department

Third place: St. Joseph’s Hospital

People’s Choice Award: Trails West Real Estate

Best Costume and Decoration: First Citizens Bank of Polson. The Rotary Club of Polson meets at 12:15 each Tuesday at the KwaTaqNuk Resort located at 365 2nd Ave. E. in Polson. Their website is www.clubrunner.ca/polson/. Polson Youth Soccer sign up information is at www.polsonyouthsoccer.org.