To the CASI Board of Directors and Fellow Cooks,
I hereby announce my candidacy for the CASI Board of Directors. I am seeking a position on the BOD because I believe in CASI and I want to be an integral part of its growth and success. What I have to offer to CASI is my long term history with the organization, personal job experience, and my devotion to CASI’s mission.
I have been associated with CASI for over thirty years. In that time I have always been willing to help in any way I could for the benefit and success of cook-offs. Some of my duties have included, but were not limited to, helping in the judging area and being accountable for the registration at numerous cook-offs. Currently and for the past four years I have been on the Committee for The Texas Open Chili Championship managing the registration of 140 to 175 cooks. If elected Director I feel it my responsibility to fulfill any and all assignments required of me at TICC in order to achieve another successful cook-off at Rancho CASI de los Chisos.
My personal job experience consists of twenty four years as the Office Manager for my company. Through my position I have developed inter-personal skills that would be an asset as a Director. I am a great listener and believe the chili cook’s opinions are very important to the organization. I will always be available to listen to you, your idea and concerns. Whether I agree with them or not, I feel my obligation would be to present them to the Board and help in achieving a solution that works best for all. In addition, I consider myself a team player. I will work together with the BOD to meet the necessary goals and challenges of CASI while maintaining the needs and wishes of the members.
I am very passionate about CASI and dedicated in its mission to raise money for charity through the promotion of chili. As the 2006 TICC Champion I traveled to numerous states to help promote cook-offs and instill my passion in others. Today I continuously share my enthusiasm and admiration for CASI with the public. I truly believe a lot of good comes from CASI and I feel that, if elected Director, my devotion to CASI will be beneficial to its continued growth. Together we can continue to make CASI an organization we are proud of.
I welcome anyone with questions or concerns to contact me at either by phone at 713-444-5066 or by email at
dhay5@comcast.net. I would consider it a great honor to serve as YOUR representative on the CASI Board of Directors and hope you will consider me at the Great Pepper’s Meeting in Midland. Thank you.
Dana Hay Plocheck
August 15, 2009 – Cooks participating in the Massachusetts State CCO held at the Middlefield Fair in Middlefield, Mass were greeted by fantastic weather and beautiful surroundings; the warm, friendly people at the event made the cooks feel welcome as they tried samples of their chili and talked of recipes and adventures in the chili world.
Current champion Susan Dean was treated as a bona fide celebrity as she and Mr. Susan cooked under the awning of fellow Texan Janita Hinds of Del Rio. At the end of the day, the consensus among the competitors and fair-goers alike was that the cook-off made a fantastic addition to the fair, which is celebrating its 154th year. Local competitors loved the idea of being able to test their recipes against those from Texas. In fact, two of our first time CASI participants were so delighted in what they experienced that they became CASI members.
A very special thanks goes out to Jim Basile, promoter and organizer of the event, whose diligence in making this cook-off a success has guaranteed its place on the CASI schedule of events for years to come. Thanks also go out to the Deans and Janita for traveling all the way from Texas to compete in Massachusetts’ first CASI State Championship and first ever CASI cook-off. We couldn’t have done it with out you!!
The Winners:
1. Susan Dean Johnson City, TX (won by 9 pts!!)
2. Alan Dean Johnson City, TX
3. Tim Lawler Arnold, MD Q (won tie breaker)
4. Jen Windsor Severna Park, MD
5. Jack Windsor Severna Park, MD
6. Janita Hinds Del Rio, TX
7. Mark Pigeon Springfield, MA Q
8. Skip Dean Becket, MA Q
9. Jim Basile Springfield, MA Q
10. Steve Stark Agawam, MA
From Raymond Pilchiek:
Pat got out of the hospital Monday around 2:00 PM. We are back home now and Pat is doing quite well,we went to our Dr. in Fredericksburg Thursday and had the last drain removed. All the wounds are healing good and the swelling on her face is starting to go down also. She is having a hard time seeing out of only one eye. We have to go back to MD Anderson next Thursday for a check up.
From Steve Nadeau:
Rusty Paske will be missed by everyone that made his acquaintance. I was fortunate enough to be one of those people and have posted some photos of Rusty from cookoff's and other events on my facebook page. They can also be accessed here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030667&id=1135149401&l=641bb38e8e
From Don Hoy:
I would like to thank my chili family and friends for the cards,calls and prayers I received after the recent death of my Mother.Your are truly a great organization in which I am very proud to belong.Thanks again.
Don Hoy
From Jim Ezell:
As chairman of CASI Sponsorship, I am often asked about the Tolbert Terlingua event and organization. Not having much first hand information myself, I am asking our membership to please give me some insight into any dealings and structure as they see it. I need to derive a description I can use for our information dissemination.
Thanks
Jim Ezell
NOTE: I have 3 pods that I have not had any contact with them concerning their Annual Report that was due to me by last Saturday, August 15. Those Pods are Mason Dixon Pod, and San Angelo Cookers Assoc. Thanks to all of the rest of you for getting your information in on time and mostly complete.
Janice
