Armed Forces Appreciation Day

Ashleigh at the chili tasting.

And lots and lots of chili!  Chappy, Ashleigh, John, and I attended the Armed Forces Appreciation Day on Saturday; James and Nickolas were at the Boy Scout Merit Badge University (more on that later).  The appreciation days are a lot like a carnival without the rides, live music, food and booths set up to promote various local organizations.  We picked up a bag of brochures for local (and further than local) attractions.

But the highlight was the chili.  It was a chili cookoff and for a dollar we received a cup, napkin, and spoon to sample as many and as much of the wares as we could (or wanted to or could handle).  By far the favorite (except for Chappy) was the Luau Chili-- a very nice surprise, but not overpowering with the pineapple.  Chappy always prefers the sort that burn a hole through steel.  ( I of course ended up starting the whole adventure of with the hiccups because the very first one was spicy!)

James and Nick had a blast at the Merit Badge University.  James chose to attend the classes for Gardening and Envirnonmental Science (needed for Eagle scout requirement) and Nickolas chose Salesmanship and Public Speaking (despite his speech impediment, he was one of the top speakers in the class, enunciated well, was well organized, and spoke loud enough.)  James came home with a bucket of seeds in soil and Nick came home with ideas of door to door product to sell.