September 26th started as a dismall cool day. Terry and I packed the TrailBlaiser with rain gutters, chili and a waher game and headed for Sioux Harbor. We left in a heavy rain and when we got to the pavillion it was cold and wet. We plugged in the chili and set up the gutters. Soon others came and we ended up with a good turnout of friends. They came with lots of food. Yummy!

We had 18 people in attendance. We had the Campbells, Caseys, Elias, Minardies, Morrises, Steffes, Wardens, Todd White and Karen Rice and guests Chuck & Sue Kraeger.

Of those that came we had 13 entries in the regatta. Bob Steffe gratiously loaned one of his yachts to Chuck Kraeger so that he could join in the fun too. We ran double eliminations which means we keep racing until everone but one loses twice. After the first round of competition we stopped racing and had our Chili cook of. The judges for this comptetition were Don Campbell, Chuck Kraeger, Andy Minardi and Bill Morris. The judges rated three fine chili recipies and Doug Warden came through with the First Prize Chili Cup. Runner up went to Millie Steffe and third place was Gus Elia.

Then we dug into all the great food that was there. Marlene always surprises us with something fantastic. She made these neat apple dumplings in a bowl. Boy were they great. By now the bellies were full and the weather had cleared so it was sunny and quite a bit warmer. I was in the mood for a nap but it was time to continue on with the racing. After 26 races it came down to Todd and Marilyn (last year's winner) in the final race. Todd beat her out by only inches to take home the trophy for this years event.

The washer games were then bought out and teams were made up and the competition started. When the dust settled Todd White and Bob Steffe bought home the gold. All in all it was a great day with a lot of activities, lots of great food but most of all a day to catch up on what is going on with some of our dear friends.

P/D/C Gus Elia, JN