As I sit here on the eve of my birthday wishing more than usual that I didn’t have a printing deadline in the morning so that I could go out for a Budweiser instead of, well, sitting here in the eve of my birthday, I was thinking what my most interesting memories are of the Chili Cook-Off.
This event, more that all others, has always been a favorite of ours at 365. After all, Dubuque365.com was born six years ago, October 7, 2000, at the Chili Cook-Off. That was the day we went online and that was the event where we had our first booth telling people about our big idea for the future of Dubuque. We’ve been going every year since. Most years we’ve found ourselves unwitting participants in the manual labor side of things ... carrying tables, pumpkins and hundreds of pounds of ground beef around. Or we had easier work, the kind that’s really rewarding: Pouring beer with the Jaycees! Wait, that’s kind of a lie.
The most rewarding work at Chili Cook-Off was always being a celebrity chili tasting judge. The very fact that we were “celebrities” shows how extensive the celebrity list was at this event. Actually, there were a lot of big names there every year. I guess the pedigree just slumped quickly enough at the tail-end of the list to include me. There’s something about the crisp October air that energizes you. Everyone really always seems to be having a genuinely good time at the Chili Cook-Off. Maybe because they know that soon, they’ll be entombed in their homes for about five months, so why not make the most of this last gasp of festive atmosphere?
Not to rest our our laurels, we at 365 were conduits to the birth of another instant Dubuque cultural icon just one year after our own birth at Chili Cook-Off. The patriarch of one of the founding 365 families had a brilliant idea one Summer day. As happens with all patriarchal organizations, his son was unwittingly sucked into the plot and soon we were, too. On a cool October morning, Dubuquers were blessed with the arrival of The Tater Booth. Who knew that such a simple thing could create such a cult following of love? Maybe it’s because the booth was more than a stand where we hawking spiral-cut, seasoned, fried potato chips. It was a circus. We were juggling potatoes. We were yelling at the crowd like beer guys at a Cubs game telling grandiose lies about the health benefits of eating fried potatoes.
And, of course, simply watching this amazing new technology at work (powered by Black & Decker) could keep kids of all ages occupied for hours. Over time we perfected the art. We made Tater Booth T-shirts that became a wanted item by every girl who came by the booth. Go figure. We spend all that time making the funny logo on the back of the shirt that says “Who’s Your Fry Daddy,” and what people really love is the big bold letters on the front of the bright yellow shirt that simply shouted TATERS! We never even got around to our “This Spud’s For You” shirts the next year.
Like all fun new experiences ... mowing the lawn ... shoveling the driveway ... we eventually realized that spending hours under a hot tent playing with scalding oil was not all it was cracked up to be. I think our first Taste of Dubuque nearly killed some of us. But the Tater Booth won best snack food, so we’ll always have that. Before long, Cowboy (that’s our friend’s dad’s nickname) was finding the process to be a lot of work as well. Lucrative, to be sure, but in the end, an endeavor better suited to a more energetic and youthful entrepreneur with a strong back. If that’s you, I think you could be the proud owner of an exciting money-making venture. Are you ready to be the Tater guy? It a mighty mantle to take on. Can you wash a thousand potatoes in a single bound? Most importantly, can you juggle russets?