Paradise Valley Beef Rib & Chili Cook-Off

Hinckey Summit
The town of Paradise, Nevada holds their annual Beef Rib and Chili Cook-off every year about a week after Labor Day. The MineShaft has fielded a Chili team every year. The local mines started the chili cook-off 15 years ago but when the price of gold started dropping their corporate nutcutters couldn't justify the $50 entry fee anymore. Luckily, Paradise township took over and they've been doing a great job ever since. (click on thumbnail to see full size picture) Dottie Jackson has been the captain of the MineShaft Bar team, "The Subterraneans", since the beginning. Under her expert direction, we have managed to capture first place chili for two years in a row and second place chili the last two years. The chili is the same recipe every year, but lately we haven't been able to deliver on our promised bribes of nubile young girls and the briefcases of cash that have served us so well in the past. The township of Paradise Valley has been a cattle ranching center since the 1860's and a lot of the old buildings have been preserved by the process of benign neglect. The mountains surrounding the town are some of the most picturesque in the state. The deer were moving from the buckbrush along the creek to the alfalfa fields when I took these pictures at the end of the park. The House Band, the MineShaft Bar house band provided live entertainment in the city park before the awarding of the trophys for chili and ribs.Let's hear a big round of applause for the guys in the band! Rohn Reeves, Cody Brown, and Ray Pebble, we sure appreciated it.