Cookoff for Parkinson's

By KAREN VOYLES
Sun staff writer
Nov 18, 2007
http://www.gainesvillesun.com/articl...rss&source=RSS

Turns out the folks from the Department of Neurology at the University of Florida know their way around a kitchen as well as they know their way around the nervous system.

On Saturday, UF's Team Neuro won the 6th Annual Chili Cookoff for charity at Gainesville Harley-Davidson and Buell. It was a fitting win for the first-time team because the proceeds from this year's contest will go to benefit research and education for Parkinson's disease, a degenerative disease of the central nervous system.

Chuck Dalba, marketing director for the Harley dealership, said the chili cook-off is a fun way for Harley-Davidson enthusiasts to raise money, and that the benefiting charity changes each year. So does the judge. This year it was Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell, who was asked to sample each entry and determine a winner.

Among the 10 teams that entered the cook-off this year was the defending champion, the Chrome Divas - an international all-female riding organization. Their entry this year was Naked Chili, "but we aren't going to tell you how we made it or how we think it should be eaten," said local Chrome Divas director Karen Chandler.

Each team was instructed to make at least three gallons of their favorite chili. The public was invited to buy samples and participate in other fundraisers, like a raffle for a new Harley worth about $7,000 that the dealership donated.

Mark Hanson, who rode over from Jacksonville to sample chili before heading to a post-football game party with friends, said there is a reason why he and other bikers go out of their way to participate in fundraisers like the chili cook-off. "It could be us or someone we love that needs help one day from one of the groups that gets the money from these fundraisers," Hanson said.