Good chili was not the only thing recognized at the 14th Annual Chili for Children Cookoff.

At the close of the event, Rett Evans, a longtime cookoff supporter, was presented with “The Shoe Award” by The Radio People sales manager Sabrina Lynn.

“This man has showed up and showed out year after year,” Lynn said. “He has missed a couple but he has done more chili cookoffs than anybody I have ever come across. He brings his band of misfits and they do it every, every year. I love him dearly.”

Lynn went on to explain what The Shoe Award is and how it came to be.

“If y’all know ‘Wild Man Larry Frost’, (former director) Cindy McCarley from the Children’s Shelter made this for him and gave this to him in 2013,” Lynn said as she showed off the trophy, which pays homage to the Mother Goose nursery rhyme “There was an Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe” with a large boot and old lady and children figurines.

“(Frost) held on to it and then he passed it on to who he thought needed it next,” she continued. “So this is going to be our third recipient of The Boot. It’s the Wild Man Shoe Award. Obviously, (the old lady) has so many children she doesn’t know what to do, it’s the Chili for Children so that’s why we’ve got The Shoe Award.”

“To be mentioned alongside Larry Frost is great company!” Evans said after receiving the award. “The true credit belongs to my incredible team of misfits. I wouldn’t be here without them. I’m truly honored.”

The cookoff, organized and presented by The Radio People and Bally’s of Vicksburg, raises funds to benefit the Warren County Children’s Shelter and Jacob’s Ladder Learning Center. This year the event raised $13,000.

NURSERY RHYME

“There was an old woman who lived in a shoe”

by Mother Goose