Ladies State Chili Championship of Texas

When setting up the new website I sent out emails asking you to share your first impressions of LSCC.   This is what some of you said.

DAVID AGEE

When was your first LSCC? I'm not sure, but it was 83 or 84.

Did you camp? No. I stayed at My Blue Heaven, a motel in Fredericksburg, but I have camped many times since.

What were your impressions? I had a ball! I have returned year after year.

Memorable characters? Gary P. Nunn, the Hortons,James, Jani, Johnny and Kim, Kathy and Ken Morgan, Lody, Lee and Laury, Marge, Sam Lewis, Tex, Troy

Was it crowded? Yes!

Any idea on how many cooks? No.

Did you judge? No, but I have many times since.

The weather? Beautiful day and a pleasantly cool evening.

Who introduced you to chili, or Luckenbach or Troy or Hal John or Hondo...where does your connection come from?

I first went to the Big Bend in 1961 with my Biology class on a four day field trip. As a youg adult my first big purchase was land in Terlingua. I discovered that a co-worker, Louis Hudgins had also purchased land there. We traveled together with Gerald McCombs to see our properties and attended the cook-off in November 1969. I have returned to the cook-off most years since that date. I loved the Big Bend and the land and the cook-off were good reasons to return. I also reaturned to the area to hunt and camp in December and March year after year. I eventually found out about other cook-offs and I combined going to Luckenbach with the Ladies State right after this discovery. I have attended many cook-offs, but none as regular as the Ladies and Terlingua.

I ran into an old friend at the Ladies in 1884, this was Sam Lewis . He was known at the cook-off as Jalepeno Sam, but to me he was a friend of my Dad since the 1940's. They were partners in two bread distributing companies in Big Spring, Texas. Sam took me under his wing and introduced me to Troy and Hal John. Hondo had already died, I had met him only socially in Terlingua,.prior to his passing. I took a picture of him with my close friend, Gerald McCombs that now hangs in the Luckenbach Bar.

I have stayed with the two cook-offs until today. I started a group that we call the CHILI SupPORT TEAM. Off and on we have had sixteen members. As a group we have worked and played hard; judging, raffling, making signs, goody bag packing, gate keeping, registering, serving, monitoring, and dancing. We love playing and singing at the campfires. VIVA TERLINGUA!!

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MATT HANCOCK

Well I'm pretty sure it was 1979 and I was 12 years old when my parents Paul & Kathy Hancock first took me to the Ladies' State. I played chess with David Montgomery on some furry chess board atop the hood of Aubrey Schofield's little car, until the pony keg arrived. It's pretty blurry from that point. I do of course remember Uncle Troy and the fried biscuits he produced from the tailgate of his little blue pick-up camper.

Through the years, I learned to build a fire and not throw trash in it. By 1996 I had helped install the Hal John & Judy Wimberly memorial "head stone," and Maggie gave me the title, "Keeper of the Fire," after I learned to build a fire with "windows." I'd also passed out enough beer and run enough errands during the judging events over the years that I was promoted to prelim judge, which made me quite proud until I realized how some prelim chili tasted...YUCK!!!

I became an "official" thereafter as I begged for the title of "Chili Security" and have since judged beans, semi's, finals, & show, and quietly broke the tie for 4th place the first year in Blanco! Hell I even worked the Kissin' & Huggin' booth while raking in lots of donations for the foundation with "The Best Hugs!"

Hondo was gone by the time I first arrived in Luckenbach, but after hearing all the stories through the years, I silently removed my clothes during the Hal John & Judy memorial fire one night and shouted, "Viva Hondo" as I ran naked through the circle and down the dirt road to my pop-up at the TEXas fire pit.

God only knows how much I love & miss you all!!! I only wish I could get there regularly again!

TOBIE BROWN

Okay, my first LSCC was 1983. John and I camped with Troy King. It was Troy who asked us to come see what was going on. I guess Troy introduced us to all of it, chili, Luckenbach and Terlingua. I fell in love with it immediately. Where else could you go to drink, talk, cook, listen to music, meet people, enjoy a campfire and watch men dress like women all the while you were laughing your head off??? I made so many friends at this cookoff. I think everyone was memorable. I have no idea how many cooks there were that year but there were tons of people. The weather was hot as usual. I did judge the first year and thought it was extremely different than any chili I had tasted. All I knew was that I WAS coming back next year. I started cooking a couple years later when Nina Bennett coerced me. lol...Now it is one of my favorite cookoffs of all time when I get to attend. My scanner is not working so no pictures. Most of my pics are of the people in our camp and the many musicians. I don't really have many from down in the field.

LAURY McCULLOUGH

My first Ladies State was October 1981. 

I wanted to just go. Just camp. Just enjoy the music and the atmosphere. But no. I had been convinced by Nina Bennett that if I was going to go to Ladies Only, that I really needed to have the full experience of cooking competition chili. It’s easy I was told. It’s fun I was told. Boy, am I gullible.

I had no clue of what I was doing. Competition chili is not what my mother served. I had no earthly idea of what kind of meat to buy, how small to cut it, how long to cook it, what kind and how much spice to use or what the finished product was even supposed to look like let alone taste like. Nothing floating. What did that mean? Turned out that the first hurdle to jump was the entry form and coming up with a name for my chili. Inspiration came from my worn out foot wear, and Dead Boot Chili was born.

Ladies State this year will be my 27^th entry, and believe me, it has taken on a life of its own. Pretty good for a dead boot.