CHILI DAY IN ELYRIA

TMC NEWS: “In The Community”

Firefighters and Bikers came together today in Elyria to eat Chili and raise money for local charities.

Elyria Harley Davidson on Cleveland Street hosted the first annual Chili Cookoff Saturday afternoon with six area Fire Departments cooking up some of their best Chili. Fire Departments competing for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies were: Elyria, Lorain, Wellington, North Ridgeville, Wakeman and Vermilion.

Fire Departments were given a free table from the people at Elyria Harley Davidson along with all the necessary paper products for guests to sample the chili. Guests would slip a couple bucks into a boot as a donation toward the Departments charity of choice for their taste of that Departments Chili.

Linda Orlando, Elyria Harley Davidson Motor Clothes Manager said that today is all about giving back to the community. “Since this is Fire Prevention Month our owner felt that this was a good time to have this event to honor and show our respect and thanks to our local Firefighters.” Orlando said that guests are treated to live music from “The Roadhouse Band”, free hotdogs and free drinks. “This is all about people coming together and it’s all about fun and friendship.”

Mike Stevens, General Manager of Elyria Harley Davidson said that being involved in the community is very important to his business. “We have been in business here since 1939 and we’ve always been involved in the community, it’s away for us to give back.” Stevens said that today’s event, to him, has deffenatly been a success. “You know weather is always an impact on our events and that worked out for us today, but without the hard work of Linda Orlando and the rest of our staff here and the participation of all the local Fire Departments of course this couldn’t have happened. I am very happy with the way everything turned out today, everybody is having a great time and the Firefighters are having fun and raising money for their charities.”

One of the highlights of today’s event was the special appearance of Wellington Fire Districts “Patches”. Ok, maybe more of a highlight for the smaller children, but they loved him. Patches was available for photos, although I didn’t see him sign any autographs, and also available for hugs.

The winners today, aside from the many charities that will benefit from the Chili sales, were: 1st Place went to Wellington Fire District. 2nd Place went to Wakeman Fire Department and 3rd Place went to Lorain Fire Department.

To see more photos: CLICK HERE