Crime & Safety
Chili Cook Off to Benefit Newtown to be Held
The cook off will be held on Saturday at Pleasant View in Somers. All proceeds will benefit the Sandy Hook Fire Department.
On Saturday, residents in the Somers area will have the opportunity to eat some great chili for a great cause.
Michael Freedman has once again organized a chili cook off to benefit someone else – this time the people from Newtown. (Last January he put one together to benefit USMC Sgt. Greg Caron.)
The cook off will take place from 11 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at Pleasant View on Route 83 in Somers. Admission is $8. People over the age of 70 and under the age of 5 are free. All proceeds will benefit the Sandy Hook Fire Department.
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Freedman said that he thinks the people in the area have been looking for something to do to help the people in Newtown so that’s where the idea came from. He said that he woke up at 3 a.m. on Dec. 19 and decided that this area could show its support by supporting the Sandy Hook Fire Department.
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“I spoke to the SHFD Chief and he said they will help disburse the funds raised,” he said. “We trust them implicitly with our lives... why not with this?”
Freedman said that it is about one community helping another.
“This is the right thing to do,” he said “This is what we as a town would want done for us if the situation was reversed. We’re just chili cooks – no more, no less – trying to help our neighbors. That’s how we look at it.”
Freedman said that Carol Hancock, the owner and CEO of the International Chili Society, has been a tremendous asset in making this happen. Freedman also said that Somers First Selectwoman Lisa Pellegrini, State Rep. Penny Bacchiochi, and the Somers Fire Department have also been very supportive.
The response from the chili cooks has also been very strong.
“The chili cooks responded,” Freedman said. “We had 40 cooks in 10 days.”
The Haymond Law Firm, PriceRite, Minuteman Press Enfield, Hampton Inn Enfield, Panera Bread Enfield, Taylor Rental Enfield, Advanced Sanitation, DG Graphics Somers, The International Chili Society, and the Patriot Guard Riders CT are sponsors for the event.
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