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Hundreds savor flavor of benefit chili cook-off
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Sara Hendel McCormick of Youngstown serves chili during Sunday’s fifth annual Sue Hernan Memorial Chili Cook-Off at Boardman United Methodist Church. The cook-off honored Hernan, who drowned in 2010. The event raises money for a Cleveland-based charity.
By Sean Barron
BOARDMAN
To some degree, Ed Metzel was circumspect about sharing certain ingredients of the chili in his pot, but he made no secret of expressing what was in his heart regarding Susan M. Hernan.
“I am so fortunate that I was able to have time with her. She was like my sister, believe it or not,” the Boardman man said about Hernan, who died in a drowning accident Aug. 1, 2010, after having dived into Berlin Lake to try to save her two grandchildren. She was 51.
Metzel was among the hundreds of participants and attendees who honored Hernan during Sunday’s fifth annual Sue Hernan Memorial Chili Cook-Off at Boardman United Methodist Church, 6809 Market St.
Sponsoring the 90-minute competition, which had 20 entries, was the Boardman United Methodist Missions Possible Team.
Proceeds are to go to the Cleveland-based Nehemiah Mission, an organization dedicated to rebuilding the lives and homes of people with physical and financial challenges via volunteer groups, according to its mission statement. Projects include cleaning vacant lots, painting, rehabilitating and building homes, performing yard work and conducting vacation Bible camps.
Hernan, a 1976 Boardman High School graduate, worked as a nurse and case manager for St. Joseph Warren Hospital. She also was a Boardman United Methodist member who took part in numerous church-sponsored mission trips, including to Juarez, Mexico, and to New Orleans to assist after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Metzel noted.
The portions of his chili’s recipe he gladly divulged included 3 pounds of beef and 2 pounds of pork combined with scallions, beans and parsley that were pureed so that the meat had a sauce-like consistency and a mild taste, explained Metzel, who came with his wife, Cheryl Metzel; son Justin Metzel; and daughter, Sydney Metzel.
“It works on hot dogs really well,” he added.
If you had enough ambition to combine chicken, Italian sausage, butter beans, cocoa powder, cinnamon, cloves, peppers, kidney beans and lots of onions in the right amounts, you would be approaching what went into Pastor Shane Russo’s entry.
“It’s like a Mexican chili,” said Pastor Russo, who has served as the church’s youth pastor since last October.
He noted that some church members plan to take part in a Nehemiah youth mission trip, set for July 26 to 29 in Cleveland.
On the sweeter side of things was Mike Hardy’s venison chili, the central feature of which was deer meat.
“It’s lean and sweet,” said the State College, Pa., man, who also added plenty of green peppers, red beans and spices and had on hand sour cream as well as shredded cheese.
Hardy, formerly of Youngstown, fondly recalled having befriended Hernan’s husband, Don Hernan, during their days at Austintown Fitch High School more than 30 years ago. Sunday’s cook-off was his first as a contestant, Hardy continued.
His blend of chili won the cookoff’s top honors and the cookoff award, a white apron.
A smoky, old-West flavor greeted those who sampled Jay Welch-Young’s dish.
“I slow-cook it over a low flame for a very long time,” approximately eight hours continuously, the Warren man said about his chuck wagon chili.
Welch-Young explained that he often uses “bad cuts of beef,” which are cooked slowly and mixed with paprika, cumin, Cayenne pepper and other spices to bring out the smoky, older-style flavor.
Regardless of their tastes and preferences for chili, attendees had in common a desire to honor and remember Sue Hernan for how she made a difference in others’ lives.
“She was a very mission-focused person,” said Cathy Pokrivnak, an event organizer. “She [also] was an excellent nurse. If you talked to her, you’d think you were her best friend. She’d give you her full attention.”