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Chili cooks take heed, contest date is set

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STEVE OTTO

sotto@tampatrib.com

Published: June 22, 2009

The 22nd, more or less, annual Steve Otto Chili Contest, unbowed by any recession and refusing any stimulus packages, is set for Sept. 26 at The Shops at

Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel.

Right away, one of the first entries hinted at the caliber of this, the most important chili contest east of the Mississippi.

An e-mail came in from "Chilidawg" who wrote: "Although Dead Serious Chili hasn't cooked in your event in many years, it was the first cook-off at which we unveiled the Dead Serious Chili coffin. We thought it fitting that we participate and officially retire the coffin from cook-offs. It has been thousands of miles and lots of places and we feel it's time to bury it."

We are, of course, honored at the prospect of hosting our first chili funeral.

News from everywhere

Last week's column included a letter from Ruskinite Fred Jacobsen complaining about the absence of much information on Ruskin at the new Tampa Bay History Center. He included a list of things missed, such as the former Coffee Cup Restaurant.

This prompted this note from Ted Freiwald, who has operated the Ruskin Drive-In Theater for more than 50 years.

"What are we," he writes, "chopped liver?"

The Ruskin Drive-In on U.S. 41 is an institution and our family has worked over many a pizza while watching movies there.

A news release came in last week from U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor's office, announcing more than $8 million in funding for Tampa Bay area law-enforcement agencies from the Department of Homeland Security to help fight terrorism.

Included in that amount was $173,000 to help the Seminole Tribe "prepare and respond to threats." I somehow find it comforting to know all of those slot machines now are safe from terrorists.

Last week also included a letter from Ruth Frazier, asking whether anyone remembered the old Garcia Street bridge.

Mary McKendree responded: "My dad, Bud Mills, and his friend, Fred Jones, remember the old swing-out bridge. They remember that Mr. Boone was a bridge tender at the Garcia Street bridge in the '30s and '40s. Three of the Boone sons retired from the Tampa Fire Department with my dad and Mr. Jones. Ms. Frazier described the opening and closing of the bridge perfectly. Dad also remembers Mr. Boone loved getting the rabbits my dad and his friends hunted along Hillsborough Avenue, Skipper Road and Gunn Highway. Thanks for the memories."

The 'oxymoron' case

Finally, this note from former Tampa Times columnist Charlie Robins, who read my column on prescription drug abuse last week. "On the page opposite your column," he writes, "the Trib's Law and Order roundup reported that a Hudson man has been accused of 'paying doctor shoppers to visit physicians and obtain prescriptions of 'oxymoron.'"

"I'm not sure, but I think oxymorons are among the fistfuls of pills I swallow just before reading my Tribune. Do you know if they have any serious side effects, such as dizziness, nausea, blurred vision or perhaps one of those erections lasting longer than four hours I keep hearing about on TV?"

Keyword: Otto Graphs, for more of Steve Otto's musings.

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