Mike Pound: Not taking sides in dueling chili and soup feeds

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November 11, 2009

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Wed Nov 11, 2009, 07:21 PM CST

By Mike Pound

mpound@joplinglobe.com

It’s going to be a long day.

There are some days when you’re faced with a seemingly impossible array of tasks that need to be accomplished. Days when the list of to-dos seems to far outweigh the list of to-don’ts.

For me, that day is today.

To my knowledge, there are at least two chili and vegetable soup feeds going on in the Joplin area at roughly the same time.

I know!

One of the chili and vegetable soup feeds is put on by the nice folks at the Joplin Association for the Blind at 311 S. Schifferdecker Ave. The folks there will start serving up food at 11 a.m. and continue until 2 p.m. Then they will start up again at 4 p.m. and won’t stop until 7 p.m. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children. In addition to soup and chili, you can dig into a host of desserts and grab a drink. For takeout orders, you can call 623-5721, or you can fax your order to 623-1968.

I’ve mentioned the Joplin Association for the Blind’s lunch and dinner fundraiser for several years in a row. I like the folks at the association. They do great work, and most of the board members and volunteers who help out there are the same people who help out and volunteer all over town.

But I have to confess that’s not the only reason I make it a point to mention the annual feed. The other reason is because I like hanging out in the kitchen talking to the chili and soup chefs. The main chili chef for years has been and still is Virgil McCoy. The main vegetable soup guys have been and are Harry Guinn and Ken Funk. Virgil, Harry and Ken all belong to the cooking school of “whatever feels right.” I like that cooking school. That’s not to say that Virgil, Harry and Ken don’t know what they’re doing. It’s to say that Virgil, Harry and Ken have been cooking long enough to not get too worked up over little things like measuring.

Stephanie Mann, executive director of the Association for the Blind, said she finally was able to pin Virgil down a bit about how exactly he makes his chili. See, Virgil insists that he’s not getting any younger, and every year for the past couple of years, he has hinted that he might not be up to making chili the next year.

“So we finally got him to give us the ‘Real McCoy’ recipe just in case,” Stephanie said.

The other chili and soup feed today is in Carthage and is put on by the folks at St. Ann’s Catholic School at 1156 S. Grand Ave. The St. Ann’s food fest is sort of a big deal in Carthage. It’s one of those events that folks circle on their calendar as a “must eat” day. The fact that the money raised at the feed goes to the Parish Council of Catholic Women so they can continue doing the good work they do is sort of a bonus.

The St. Ann’s chili and soup feed runs from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 5 to 7 p.m. The cost is $5 for adults, and $2 for kids 12 and under. Much like the Association for the Blind, the folks at St. Ann’s also will offer up a virtual buffet of desserts.

I don’t like to get in the middle of a chili or vegetable soup battle. So I will just say that I’ve had the chili and vegetable soup at the Association for the Blind, and I’ve had the chili and vegetable soup at St. Ann’s. And I have asked for seconds at both locations.

Another reason I like to write about chili and soup feeds is because they tend to be true examples of people coming together to help other people. I mentioned Virgil, Harry and Ken, but they would be the first to tell you that they are just a small part of the huge team of volunteers who make the Joplin feed possible. And the folks at St. Ann’s will tell you that their feed wouldn’t be possible without the army of people who roll up their sleeves and do whatever needs to be done.

But mainly I like writing about chili and soup feeds because I like chili and soup. If you do too, do yourself a favor and make your way to at least one, if not both, of the feeds today.

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Mike Pound: Not taking sides in dueling chili and soup feeds

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr wants the city to distribute weather radios to all Joplin homes that don’t have one. That’s 11,000 radios. Do you think that’s a good use of $300,440?

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