Sunny Skies and Chili Days

Think chili is something you just put in a bowl and top with grated cheese and chopped onions?

Think again, said Marilyn Allen, chili enthusiast extraordinaire. Allen, chief judge Sunday at the Conejo Valley Days Chili Cook-off, ran down a list of serving options, much the way Bubba extolled the variety of shrimp dishes in the movie “Forrest Gump.”

Layer in a casserole. Pour over spaghetti. Form into hamburgers. Slather onto nachos.

“You can do almost anything with it,” said Allen, a retired secretary who travels the country judging chili for the International Chili Society.

An estimated 12,000 people packed Conejo Creek Park on Sunday to sample the grub at the 23rd annual contest--a prelude to the five-day Conejo Valley Days festival, which kicks off Wednesday night.

The Western-themed festival, in its 44th year, features game booths, carnival rides, live music and food. And for the first time in the history of the charity event, a Men’s Western Wear Contest will be held to go along with the traditional Miss Conejo Valley Days beauty pageant.

The chili cook-off is one of the state’s largest.

Because of the number of contestants and the size of the crowd, Allen said, the winner of the Thousand Oaks event automatically qualifies for the mother of all cook-offs: the world chili championship in Las Vegas.

Crowds hovered at the approximately 60 booths, sampling stews that varied mainly by the amount of spicy heat they packed.

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“I don’t like this one as much as the other one,” said Jennifer Wade, 24, to a friend after her first bite of Crazy Cow Chili, her voice loud enough for the booth’s proprietor to hear.

Wade, a nurse in the labor and delivery ward at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, said she preferred her chili on the spicy side--and what she tasted didn’t do the trick.

Crazy Cow’s chef, Patti Summers, took the rejection in stride.

“Everybody’s taste is different,” said Summers, as she stirred the remainder of her pot of chili, brimming with ground beef, pinto beans and huge chunks of onions.

Summers, a Moreno Valley resident, said she and her husband, Fred, were the 1997 California western regional champions.

Judges drawn from the International Chili Society evaluate special brews made of beef and spices and no beans. Contestants are also eligible to win the People’s Choice award, if their chili is the most popular of the day.

The royal court from last year’s Miss Conejo Valley Days bestows awards for showmanship and the best-looking booth.

Although the chili may be the draw for most, it was apparently just a pretext for Justin Moffatt and Andy Shoemaker, sophomores at Thousand Oaks High School.

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Under clear, sunny skies, the two 16-year-olds used the opportunity to get in a little girl-watching.

“There are pretty ones all over the place,” Justin said.

The event was sponsored by the Thousand Oaks Rotary Club, and prize money goes to the top three finishers in four categories.

This year’s overall champions were Bill and Karen Ray of Riverside, who took home $500 for their Mountain Express Chili.

Other winners included the Adelphia cable company for the People’s Choice award and Bob Delaney of Thousand Oaks in the best booth and showmanship categories.

“These are people devoted to cooking,” said Mary Elva Lussier, Conejo Valley Days publicity chairwoman. “People on the chili circuit take their chili very seriously.”

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Conejo Valley Days

The 44th annual Conejo Valley Days festival kicks off Wednesday at Conejo Creek Park at the Janss Road exit of California 23. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and students, and $3 for children 6-12. Children under 6 get in free.

Hours

Wednesday and Thursday: 5 to 10 p.m.

Friday: 5 p.m. to midnight

Saturday: noon to midnight

Sunday: noon to 8 p.m.

Special events

Miss Conejo Valley Days Pageant and Men’s Western Wear Contest, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday

Rodeo 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 4 p.m. Sunday

Carnival is open each day; $12 flat rate offered on all rides Wednesday and Thursday