Sunday, November 23, 2014, dawned chilly and overcast, rain too, but that didn’t stop a group of enthusiastic chefs entered into the Fourth Annual Turkey Cookoff sponsored by Eloisa and Joe Newsome of Josie’s. Five official entrants plus 1 unofficial (Joe Newsome) braved the somewhat inclement weather to prepare their prize winning or almost prize winning turkeys as the air teemed with the aroma of turkeys plus all kinds of wood & hickory smoke. Fun seemed to be the overwhelming aim of each cook and helper as they all joked back and forth with each other and sampled some of the offerings of each cook.

Besides of having a great deal of fun and amusement and sending delightful aromas into the air, this was all for a good cause as the entry fees along with visitors’ donations were sent to our Volunteer Fire Department, AND the cooked turkeys were then sent to the Benevolence Fund to be distributed in Thanksgiving Baskets. So no one loses and everyone benefits. Our thanks to Eloisa and Joe Newsome for their dedication and courage in putting this on.

The following teams were entered and their places shown:

1- Team Butterballs, chef, Leroy Smith, entered his turkey; and he won first place once again. Sadly, Leroy was not present to accept a trophy due to the illness of his daughter.

2- The Trophy Hunters, with John & Kim Jones; using their Cajun Microwave; they had 3 turkeys, all being well roasted; First Place for pit turkeys!

3- Cobbler by Sheila and Mike McCreight!

And three folks were called upon to determine which turkey and cobbler were the winners: Sylvia Ragusin Martinez, Paul McGee, and Alyse Munsch all admirably performed that difficult task.

Special thanks to Rosemary Stringo for the design and supply of the hoodie sweats with the prominent labeling of Turkey Cookoff-4th! I’m certainly going to enjoy mine during the early morning walks with my monster-minischnauzer! Those sweat tops are not just warm, but very decorative as well.

And now everyone is waiting for 2015 and Good Weather!

Hosts Eloisa & Joe Newsome

John & Kim Jones & Cajun Microwave