Chili Fest to Spice Up North Branford and Northford This Weekend

The North Branford Fire Department Volunteer Ambulance Co. 4 will hold its seventh annual fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 24 from noon to 5 p.m. at Cecarelli Farm in Northford. Megan Poston, one of the company’s 25 volunteers, has headed the fundraiser since its inception.

“It’s evolved over the past seven years,” said Poston. “It started out as family fun day where we invited the community to our building and we made chili for people to eat. By the next year, it was a fall festival and we somehow we decided why don’t we make a bunch of chili and let people vote.”

Right now there are 19 chilis entered, including three-time champions’ Joe Calamita and Jack Yeager. The entrance fee for a chili is $5 and chili chefs should bring a large pot of chili and a serving spoon to the Chili Fest. Submissions are being accepted through Friday.

“We ask them to stay and serve their chili,” said Poston. “Some people choose to decorate their areas, too.”

The growth of the Chili Fest is evident in the numbers as the first year there were just four chilis entered and Poston is hoping for well more than 20 this year. The $12 admission ($6 for chili-eating kids 7-and-under) gets entrants unlimited four-ounce samples of chilis.

“You can sample the chilis as much as you’d like and then you vote for your favorite,” said Poston, who said winners are given engraved bean pots.

In addition to chili-tasting, the Chili Fest offers other fun for the family. The Spin Sisters will perform from noon to 2:30 p.m. There will be raffles with the top prize being an iPad2. Hamburgers and hot dogs ($1 each) will be available and Co. 4 will also have its vehicles on-hand for children to check out.

“We wanted to create an event that’s open to the public so they could not only come and enjoy a day with their families, but also meet us and let the kids go see the ambulances,” said Poston. “We want them to be able to learn about us in a stress-free environment versus if we come to their house in an emergency.”

This is the second year that Cecarelli’s Farm has offered to host the event, which means there will be some farm fun as well including horse-drawn hayrides, the pick-your-own pumpkin patch and the farm stand with fresh produce.

Proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward the purchase of uniforms and recruiting.

“We also hope it benefits the farm as well so people will support the local growers,” said Poston.

The ambulance company is based out of 1351 Middletown Ave., Northford, and the volunteer members are required to work at least 24 hours a month, which is one shift a week plus meetings and drills on Wednesdays. The rest of the time is filled in by paid paramedics.

“The ambulance company is staffed 24/7 at the paramedic level,” said Poston. “The volunteers are usually people who work in the field somewhere else; people who live in town and want to give back to our community as a volunteer.”

For information, to enter a chili or to buy raffle tickets, call 203-627-2873.