We would like to invite everyone young and old to attend this year's 11th Annual CASI Chili Cookoff Saturday April 3rd at The Buffalo Girls Hotel in Canton, located at the base of The Mountain @ Old Mill Marketplace on Hiway 64-East, 2 blocks from the square.. Remember, all monies go to CLAW here in Canton for Rescued Pet Adoptions. Other info can be found on my website @ www.buffalogirlshotel.com or on www.clawanimals.com. Our list of Celebrity Judges continues to grow even at press time. Brave souls that have signed up so far are Mayor Rusty Wilson, City Manager Andy McCuistion, Sheriff Pat Burnett, Executive Director of Economic Development, Mercy Rushing, John Crowe, Gene & Margaret Dunn, David Young, Diana Young, Therez Fleetwood of Therez Fleetwood Bridal, LaDeania Jones, Charlotte Geane, Charles Smith of Asgard Farms, Stephanie Mosby, Ricky Ragle, Larry Matthews, Mike Reynolds, Lonnie Pierce, Billy Vargo, Betty vargo, Jim Stephens, Jim Fuller, and Patti Boyd. There are three rounds of judging on taste, texture, appearance, and overall good eatin'! CASI's ( Chili Appreciation Society International) motto is "Cooking Chili For Charity". To have a CASI sanctioned cookoff, you must donate all proceeds to a charity or non-profit organization. Judging starts at 1:00pm. The cooks that follow this circuit are all vying for points to be qualified to enter the superbowl of cookoffs in Terlingua, New Mexico. They receive points for entering, placing, and for showmanship. Showmanship contestants dress in funny get-ups and put on skits. Last year's chili winner was Stephanie Brockman with her Cool Cat Chili, and Terry Lee Owens won showmanship with his "HOG WILD PIGLETS".  You don't have to be a CASI member to enter. We have several novice cooks enter each year, and some have even placed in the top ten. Trophy's are given to the top 10 chili's and the top 3 showmanship winners. This year our Trophy's are custom made sandblasted works of art donated by Alan & Missy from Brick & Stone Graphics, located at the base of The Mountain, next to The Buffalo Girls Hotel.

This year David Cline will be our emcee and entertainer with a group of singers that are sure to please. Tammy Miller, Billy Martin, Lacy Turner, Amber Carrington, & Nathan Young will all be there to sing throughout the day. David performs on The Mountain @ Clines Corner every 1st Monday. You can check him out at www.DavidCline.com He has a new CD coming out soon and a list of his performances can be found on his website. WildThing the Pet Buffalo will be back with his owners, RC & Sherron Bridges.

 Buffalo Skier, and Chariot Rider, Will & Taylor Bridges will be on hand  with tales of their San Antonio visit to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. WildThing has been inducted into Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum  and is in the new book edition of Ripley's Believe It Or Not. All of their pictures will be on display as well as handmade jewelry by Sherron Bridges. WildThing has gained about 200 LBS since last year so come by to say hello, see how he has grown, and have your picture made with him. CLAW volunteers will be on hand to answer all of your pet related questions, as well as coordinating the live and silent auctions with the help of Kathy Burkham & husband Arthur, who will be on hand with some of our CLAW Dogs. Piglets Gone Wild will make a return appearance with chili cook, Terry Lee Owens, along with the fanous "Chili Chicks", and many more.  Maurita Kindle & brother Gene will be selling  raffle tickets and koozies. The raffle this year is only $1.00, and you have 5 chances to win. Prizes are big screen TV, charcoal Grill, GPS system, a lap top computer, and $200.00 in restaurant vouchers here in Canton. Auction items are coming in from The Mountain, Old Mill Marketplace, The Villages, and stores and services all over Canton. Personal donations and items being donated for the auction are too numerous to mention, but will all be on display at the cookoff. If you have not donated yet,  please call and we will pick up your auction item, gift certificate, or cash donation & obtain your address so CLAW can mail you a tax receipt. CLAW's adoption fees do not even cover the vet costs, after rescuing these dogs & cats from shelters, so they depend on the money raised from our annual chili cookoff to off-set these expenses. With the help of CASI,(who enable us to have such an event), our volunteers, and everyone that donates time, money, gifts, or services; we can help find forever homes for these little guys. CLAW is also becoming involved with what we are calling ANIMEALS. The group that provides meals on wheels to the elderly realized that some folks were giving their food to their pets, so we will start collecting pet food to be delivered to those Meals On Wheels recipients who cannot provide it to their companions....thus, ANIMEALS. One of our volunteers, Joyce Johnson, is coordinating this project. CLAW is also involved in other things around town. They are represented by  Maurita Kindle,who helps park cars on behalf of CLAW every 1st Monday for a percentage to be used in our local schools for education and scholarships. Any Canton student may apply for these scholarships. Two scholarships, valued at $500.00 each, are given away each year in May, at the annual Sr. Awards Ceremony. Last year's recipients were Erin Eberhart and Breanne Sanford. They are chosen by a committee,and the finalists are chosen based on their community involvement, grades, and career choices. Many other CLAW volunteers work tirelessly on a daily basis picking up dogs from shelters, transporting them, bathing them, vetting them, finding foster homes for them, then networking, & sending e-mails to other rescue groups, answering the CLAW hot line, attending and giving seminars, and working closely with the schools about animal awareness.  These volunteers go above & beyond the call of duty when it comes to their passion for animals, and making a difference in their community. Please thank them when you see them. They have all come together to make this year's event fun for the entire family by getting local involvement with the city, the community, and some of our young folks as well. This year the local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have volunteered to bake cookies for a Bake Sale to be held at the cookoff to do their part for animal awareness. . We have several local entries and quite a few of our past cooks are returning. Anyone can enter, even at the last minute, as long as you are there before 9am on Saturday. If you are not a cook, and just want to come have fun listening to good music, bidding on our auction items, or even buying a souviner T-shirt, it all helps with our cause. As always, all chili entries, raffle money, auction money, koozie money, and donated money will all go to support CLAW's mission of saving unwanted and discarded pets here in Van Zandt County. The money we raise at this fun filled Chili Cookoff goes a long way and is greatly appreciated by all involved, so get your friends together and come on out to The Mountain in Canton to have a Dog Gone Good Time. Remember The Mountain stays open late each Friday & Saturday of 1st Monday and are all running specials for this annual event. The Buffalo Girls Cafe will be serving Fried Pies and homemade burgers. 

Hope to See YOU there,

Susan Matassa