The Crookston United Way will host its 22nd annual Soup, Chili, and Minnesota Salad Cook-Off on Tuesday, October 17, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Crookston High School Commons.
The United Way has sent letters to local organizations such as Churches, schools, and restaurants to recruit contestants for the event.
This event is free, but free-will donations are encouraged for the United Way. “Some people throw in their yearly donations, so sometimes we see $100 checks in there,” said Executive Director of the Crookston United Way Libby Boucher, “Folks will start at the front of the line and receive a tray, ballot, and spoon. Spoons this year because we’re eating soup.”
Once you receive the items, attendees will line up and test the samples from each vendor. Each piece comes in a two-ounce cup. Once one has tested each product, they will fill out the ballot and score the items tasted. “The people’s choice winners will get a plaque that they get to keep and hang up,” said Boucher, “We will also have three judges who score first and do a blind tasting. Someone brings them everything, and they vote without knowing what they’re trying. The winner of that will receive a traveling plaque.”
Boucher jokingly said the winners of this competition will have mostly bragging rights.
Contestants are also bringing “Minnesota Salads,” ranging from fruit salads (or fluff salads) to dessert salads such as cookie fluff. People’s choices and judges will also critique these. The winner of the salad competition will be given United Way aprons as recognition. The winners from each competition are announced one or two days after the event finishes.
Boucher believes these events serve many purposes, including finding a sense of community. “This serves as our official kick-off to our fundraising campaign,” said Boucher, “This is a nice opportunity! I love these events where you can sit down with many people, and everybody eats food together. There’s nothing more community than that. You may end up sitting next to someone you don’t know, but you automatically have something in common because you will talk about the food.”
The Crookston United Way hosted 21 fundraisers last year, which allowed them to fund many programs revolving around Crookston.
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