Students at Tennessee College of Applied Technology competed Friday in three fall contests: a chili cookoff, a pumpkin decorating contest and a costume contest.
Twelve classes made chilis, and the winners were Pipe Fitting class in 1st place, Computer INformation Technology in 2nd and Diesel in 3rd.
Prizes are as follows: 1st: pizza party, 2nd: donuts and coffee and 3rd: icecream party.
Judges Brian Colbert, Elizabethton High School’s Career Technology Education director, Melanie Hartley, EHS counselor, and Bonnie Peters, Happy Valley High School Counselor selected the winning chilis based on taste/smell, consistency/texture and appearance.
“It’s difficult to decide,” said Hartley. “They each have a really distinct flavor.”
According to costume contest judge Johnny Blankenship, circuit court clerk, choosing the winners for the costume contest was not too difficult because even though the 41 contestants were creatively adorned, some were clearly standouts, like 3rd place winner Hunter Moore, who stood over twice as tall as the crowd on stilts.
Also judging were Patty Woodby, circuit court administrative assistant, and Charlie Snodgrass, TCAT technical coordinator.
Charlotte Corum won first place as a jellyfish with a colorfully decorated umbrella and tentacles, followed by Rachel Vines in 2nd place as a scarecrow.
In the pumpkin decorating competition, each class developed unique ideas for their displays and went well beyond simply carving or painting the pumpkins. They winning display was a scene made by the Administration Technology Office from Alice in Wonderland with a pumpkin-headed Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire cat (made of pumpkins), and woodland and castle scenery.
The second place winner was the HVAC Class with a pumpkin at the heart of an HVAC unit, complete with fan and wiring. The third place pumpkin, made by the CIT class is a Star Wars scene featuring character figurines and an intricately carved Death Star.
The oldest of these three traditions, the chili cook off, began in the mid-1990s during a dispute between TCAT teachers about whose chili was better.
“That’s how it started, and it’s grown more every year,” said retired electricity teacher Terry Peters.
He said that in this regard, it reminds him of the Peters Hollow Egg Fight. “It started as a little skirmish and then evolved into an annual competition.”