The fourth Wilderness Trail Charity Chili Cook-Off to benefit the Danville Kiwanis’ programs for local youth and seniors returns Sept. 25 at the distillery in Danville, Ky.

Competing teams include ones from locally-owned restaurants as well as individuals who believe their homemade chili measures up. A team of judges will select the top three trophy winners.

All guests with $10 tasting tickets will have a chance to vote for the People’s Choice. Tickets are available at the door while they last or may be purchased in advance from a Kiwanis member or at the distillery’s Visitors Center. Tasting is 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the winners will be announced at 2:30 p.m.

Country Boy Brewery will be selling several varieties of its beer at the event.

Along with the food and drink, the event will include music. Pat Heist, co-owner of Wilderness Trail Distillery, is vocalist in the band Zella May and they will perform 2-4 p.m. Minus 3 will open the show at 1 p.m. Guests are invited to bring a lawn chair or grab a seat on a hay bale. 

Other fun activities include horse and wagon rides for $3 a person and guess the weight of the giant pumpkin for $1 to win a prize. This is a family-friendly event. For anyone who is not a chili fan, the Danville High School and Bate Middle School girls basketball teams will be selling hotdogs, soft drinks and bottled water.

In 2019, the event’s sponsors, cooks and tasters raised $7,100 for the Kiwanis’ mission. One of the Kiwanis’ biggest programs is to help local youth at the holidays, a tradition that began more than 90 years ago. The Kiwanis Club purchases a coat, shoes and other clothing items for the children and invite them to a lunch to receive their gifts. Twenty years ago, the Boyle County Senior Citizens Center became recipients of the holiday project and other programs, as well.

The Kiwanis Club receives the names of the children they help from Salvation Army, Wilderness Trace Child Development Center, Danville & Boyle County Family Resources, and Sunrise Children’s Home.