Great Migration has profound effect on history of Coeymansby Melanie Lekocevic / March 7, 2024Related Posts
Chili cook-off offers tasty way to help seniors
By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
RAVENA — From moose meat to venison to “boomer chili,” there was something for every culinary taste at the first annual chili cook-off at Senior Projects of Ravena last weekend.
“We are having our first annual chili cook-off,” said Assistant Director Lakken Kovacik from Senior Projects. “Earlier this year we did Soup for Seniors in February, but this is our first chili cook-off, and I’m hoping to make both of them annual events.”
There were 15 contestants, most of them home cooks, bringing their special brand of chili for the community to try out. Each paid $10 to enter the contest, and the $150 that was raised was the prize money for the winning cook. Local residents paid $10 for adults and $5 for children under age 12 to try out the chili and pick their favorite.
“People from the community are given tickets to vote for their favorite chili and whichever contestant has the most tickets at the end of the day wins the prize money,” Kovacik said.
“You get to taste all 15 chilis and we have little corn muffins and some of the chilis have toppings you can put on, like sour cream and cheese,” Kovacik said. “You taste all of them and then vote for your favorites.”
After trying out 15 different versions of chili, no one went home hungry.
At the end of the contest, the big winner was Hayden Hyslop, but the race was close.
“Every one that I’ve tried so far has been really good,” Kovacik said.
The money raised during the event will go towards the various needs of Senior Projects of Ravena, which may include the purchase of a new ice machine or a warming oven.
“Every single penny that we raise goes right into the senior center, whether it’s for paying bills or buying a new appliance that we desperately need,” Kovacik said.
Volunteers Lou Smith and Sarah Covey signed in visitors at the reception table, and said Senior Projects is an important resource for the area’s elderly. Both are also members of the facility.
“I love the senior center because I get to meet all kinds of different people and serve dinner to them,” Smith said. “It’s a lot of fun and I really enjoy it.”
“I have been here for 25 years and we do a lot,” Covey said. “We go on many trips, we have parties — it keeps you young and out in the public, helping people.”
Village Ambassador Rebecca Shook entered her chili — a family recipe for venison “Hunstsman’s Chili” that she got from her uncle John. She was happy to see the community sharing each other’s bounty.
“This annual chili cook-off is another good example of being a community by sharing what we have with one another,” Shook said. “It shows how much we care for each other.”
Mayor Bill “Moose” Misuraca, owner of the Halfway House Tavern, brought his special “Moose Meat Chili,” giving many their first taste of moose.
“This recipe uses actual moose that my friend got in Nova Scotia. He hunted it there,” Misuraca said.
Senior Projects provides much-needed resources for the senior population, the mayor said.
“Senior Projects is a very valuable resource for seniors in the community,” Misuraca said. “They can get a lot of the things they need at little to no cost, and also socialize, which is really important, too.”
Darlene Mergendahl worked for the facility since 1984 and now serves on the organization’s board of directors. She has seen many generations of area residents come through the doors over the years.
“I have watched my friends’ great-grandparents coming here back in the ‘80s, to their grandparents, to their parents, and now it’s us ourselves starting to show up,” Mergendahl said. “So, I’ve seen generation after generation using the services that we provide, which is wonderful because that means we affect the whole community, not just the senior community.”
Whittling Away: Doctors
By Dick Brooks
For Capital Region Independent Media
I do not like going to the doctor’s.
I believe that for once, I am part of a vast majority of the human race. In all the decades that I’ve survived, I have yet to hear anyone say, “There’s nothing good on TV. I don’t feel like shopping so I think I’ll go to the doctor and get an exam.”
Let me state right up front, I have nothing against doctor-type people. As a rule they are intelligent, caring and clean sorts who are hard-working and useful to have around if you’re sick. My problem is deciding when I’m sick enough to need a doctor’s services.
I am basically of the feeling that if I can walk, communicate with others of my species and am not actively bleeding or have any bodily parts detached, I am not in need of medical assistance.
The Queen and all the proper medical journals suggest an annual physical. I am of the opinion that if one goes looking for trouble or problems, one will find them in abundance.
The last physical I had reminded me all too graphically why I do not like going to the doctor. I had an appointment to be examined at 2 p.m. I checked in with the cute little receptionist who looked like she had just come from cheerleading practice. I was instructed to take a seat in the waiting room and they would be right with me.
After a pleasant 45 minutes of reading magazines with no covers so I wouldn’t know how far out of date they were — although I did find an interesting article on our recent losses at Gettysburg — I started to focus on my fellow waiters.
The whole room was full of sick people. There were sneezers, coughers and folks with bandages in the most interesting places. These guys had things that I didn’t want so I sat there trying not to breathe until I heard my name being called.
I was ushered to a small cubicle where I was weighed — not a pleasant experience, especially for the scale. My blood pressure was taken and a thermometer stuck into my mouth, at which time I was asked a series of questions. I guess my mumbled answers were satisfactory because the nurse handed me a gown and told me to strip, put on the gown and wait for the doctor.
As fascinating as some forms of nudity are, people my age don’t enjoy being naked. As I peeled off the layers, I noticed for the first time how cold the cubicle was; they probably used it as a meat locker during slack times. The gown didn’t help warm me since a very large portion of my anatomy was hanging out the gap in the back.
I sat on the examination table — why don’t they have a flannel cover on those things instead of slick paper over the refrigerated faux leather upholstery?
I sat there for another 15 or so minutes before the doctor appeared. He had a good time for five minutes or so, whacking, thumping, poking and looking into places I wouldn’t have offered viewing opportunities to voluntarily.
He said there were some tests he’d like to run. I was feeling testy by this time so I thanked him and left.
I went home and checked my medical kit. Aspirin for aches and pains, Ace bandages, which are good for all sorts of things and can even substitute for bungee cords in a pinch; a flannel bag of corn kernels that when heated in the microwave are good for joints that hurt; duct tape for re-attaching any appendage that needs re-attaching; Bag Balm, a left over from my farming days that helps me keep my youthful-looking complexion; a big bottle of Sloan’s Liniment; a bottle of castor oil; and in honor of my hero, Bob Beyfuss, a bottle of ginseng.
All was in order. I don’t think I’ll be seeing the doctor again for a while.
Thought for the week — If Jimmy cracks corn and nobody cares, why is there a song about him?
Until next week, may you and yours be happy and well.
Reach columnist Dick Brooks at whittlingaway@yahoo.com.
