Conejo Valley Days Is on the Tip of Their Tongues

Allen Rothman was not intimidated.

His team, Big Al’s Brew, was as strong as any. With his daughters, Lara, 9, and Becky, 12, and uncle Art, the Oak Park family was ready to take on any of the 58 other teams. And that included two former world champions.

Their mission: to make the best chili in town for the 10,000 or so people gathered Sunday at Conejo Creek Park for the Conejo Valley Days’ Chili Cook-Off.

“You give it some tender loving care and a lot of patience,” Rothman said. He slowly stirred the large pot in front of him. Becky, a badge that reads “assistant cook” on her shirt and a huge red hat on her head, stirred another pot of bubbling chili. “You try to cook it without burning the bottom,” Rothman said.

But when it comes to the recipe, Rothman was a bit more reserved. Family secret. It includes tri-tip, onions, garlic, sage, celery, tomatoes, cumin, chili powder and a bit of chicken fat. The team took 10th place last year and hoped to do better this time.

The Chili Cook-Off was a hot event. Under the bright sun, the crowd mingled, listened to country-Western bands, danced, drank beer and, of course, tasted chili.

Unforgiven Saloon Chili, Sespe Creek Chili, Dorsett Gulch Chili, Pegasus Jailhouse Chili, Beer Tub Chili, Rhino’s Breath Chili, Graveyard Chili, Aftershock Chili, Axmen Chili and Flaming Chili. Screaming Red Snapper, an all-fish chili, was served by a group of twentysomethings who live in boats in the Ventura harbor. And in a booth draped in Union Jacks, a group of local young men boasted of a “family recipe with a secret second-generation additive”--the Mad Cow Chili.

Chili contests are serious business. The winner of Sunday’s cook-off goes to the national semifinals, and possibly the finals, in Reno in the fall. And the world championship carries a $25,000 prize.

In Thousand Oaks, the Chili Cook-Off is a precursor to Conejo Valley Days, a weeklong Western-theme celebration that kicks off Wednesday.

“People in Thousand Oaks think of this town as a small country town,” said businessman Marty Bates, who chaired this year’s cook-off, a fund-raising event organized by the Rotary Club of Conejo Valley. “This reminds them of that country feeling and brings the community together. And it’s fun.”

The cook-off, which is in its 21st year, is the Rotary Club’s largest annual fund-raiser, and Bates said he hoped that it would bring as much as $40,000. The money is donated to a variety of charities, including D.A.R.E., local social service organizations, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and an international program to eradicate polio.

In addition to the pots of steaming chili, Sunday’s event included a group of Ventura County firefighters in a fire engine, a racing car and a group of U.S. Marines from Port Hueneme with three armored vehicles, mortar guns, grenade launchers and an antitank missile. At midday, a team of para-gliders descended on the crowd from 13,000 feet.

Jill Roaf, a Thousand Oaks student and mother, said she had come at the request of her children. Her 5-year-old daughter, Amanda, wore an ear-to-ear smile splattered with chili remains.

Kent and Laurie Nipping, a Newbury Park couple, came to the cook-off to watch people.

“The crowd is fun,” said Laurie Nipping, who grew up in the Conejo Valley and has been attending cook-offs with her husband for six years. “People-watching is a trip. People really lose their inhibitions.

“It’s like a reunion,” she added. “You run into people you haven’t seen for a year.”

Just after the para-gliders landed, the annual Whiskeroo Contest got under way. Two dozen men with facial hair of every color, shape, form and density vied for scroungiest beard, softest beard, fullest beard, best beard, most unique mustache and best mustache. Many hadn’t shaved in more than two decades.

Heidi Wallace, a.k.a. Mrs. Thousands Oaks / Westlake Village 1996, was one of the judges who got to run her fingers over the hairy faces.

“This is a lot of fun,” said Wallace, 33. “It’s not every day that you get to feel a lot of men’s beards.”

The soft beard prize went to Del Rarick, 59, of Newbury Park.

“I wash it every day and put on three conditioners,” said Rarick, who sported a well-trimmed white beard.

In the chili contest, the competition was, well, a bit stiffer.

The Rothmans’ recipe lost out to Jim Beaty, the 1986 world champion, who took first place in the official contest with his Sespe Creek Chili. The award for best local cook went to Joel Erickson for his Dorsett Gulch Chili. Jim Delaney, a Conejo Valley resident, took first place for showmanship and best booth with his Graveyard Chili. And Derek Ashworth of Beer Tub Chili won the people’s choice award for serving the most chili bowls.

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Conejo Valley Days

Events and Entertainment

DETAILS

* WHERE: Conejo Creek Park, Moorpark Freeway and Janss Road, Thousand Oaks.

* WHEN: 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to midnight Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

* COST: Events free with admission to the fair: adults, $5; students and senior citizens, $4; children 6 to 12, $3; children under 6, free.

* GETTING THERE: Fair-goers can save $1 off admission by riding a free shuttle bus from Thousand Oaks or Newbury Park high schools. Buses depart hourly from both schools: 4 to 11 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

* CALL: CVD hotline information, 371-8730.

SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY

* Fair opens, 5 p.m.

* Badgeroo Contest, 6 p.m. Contestants of all ages dress in Western costumes and display their collection of Western-themed badges from previous Conejo Valley Days.

THURSDAY

* Family Night, save $2 off each admission or buy a $6 ticket for unlimited rides.

* Best Dressed Western Contest for men, women and children age 5 and older, 6:30 p.m. Contestants must arrive at the main stage by 6 p.m. For early registration, call 497-3800.

* Raymond Michael in “Elvis--the Legend,” 7 p.m.

* Local blues bands The Rick Ambrose Band, Rocket Science and Randy Rich & the Ravens start playing at 8:30 p.m.

FRIDAY

* Special Kids Day. Volunteers are needed to help about 300 disabled children invited to enjoy the fair at 10 a.m., before the doors open to the public. For details, call 492-2238.

* Junior Rodeo, noon, in the rodeo arena.

* Bingo, 5 to 10 p.m. (also 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday).

* A night of classic rock music begins at 8 p.m. with local band The Big Ugly Dummies.

* Canned Heat headlines at 9 p.m.

* Local group Side Show takes the stage at 10:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

* Conejo Valley Days Parade, 9 a.m. Grand Marshal Harvey “Boothill” Bollinger leads the floats, clowns and marching bands down Thousand Oaks Boulevard from the post office at Duesenberg Drive to Erbes Road.

* Western Pit Barbecue, noon to 6 p.m. (also Sunday).

* Rodeos, 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. (also 1 and 4 p.m. Sunday) in the rodeo arena.

* Tiny Tot Children’s Pageant, 3 p.m. Children age 3 to 8 dress up in their Western best.

* Clog dancers, 5 p.m.

* Camarillo-based Tropical Taste Band plays Hawaiian music, 6 p.m.

* Warner Sankman, traditional folk and country troubadour, 7 p.m.

* The Monte Carlos perform rock oldies, 8:30 p.m.

SUNDAY

* Family Country Fun Day: a mix of traditional, Top 40 and original country music, with KHAY radio personalities with prizes and giveaways.

* Ralph Payne and Trouble perform Top 40 country tunes, 1 p.m.

* Midnight Train, contemporary and original country music, 2 p.m.

* Kathy Bailey’s Country in Motion performing dance troupe, 3:30 p.m.

* Caught Red Handed plays Top 40 and traditional country songs, 5 p.m.

* The Phillip Norris Band, rock and country, 6:30 p.m.