Goodfellow hosts 2nd Annual Ruckus at the Rec Camp Published Sept. 26, 2017 By Airman 1st Class Randall Moose 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE RECREATIONAL CAMP, Texas -- The 17th Force Support Squadron hosted the Second Annual Ruckus at the Rec Camp at the Goodfellow Air Force Base Recreation Camp Sept. 23. The Ruckus is a combination of the 44th Annual Armed Forces Chili Cook-off, the 19th Annual Car and Bike Show and a BBQ cook-off. “I love this event. This is my third year here,” said Russell Dunlap, 312th Training Squadron supply technician. “I won first place for squadron chili.” The competition included categories for teams and individuals in the Terlingua, chicken, ribs, beans or the "anything goes" category. The top three Terlingua winners earned a place to compete in the original International Championship Chili Cook-off in Terlingua, Texas. The Annual Car and Bike Show featured 60 vehicles from the early 1900’s to the present. Horney Mike and Ryan Evans, television car mechanics, attended to answer questions, give advice and present awards for their favorite cars. The Ruckus at the Rec Camp was open to both Goodfellow members and the public. According to Shandy Scott, 17th FSS event coordinator, the Chili Cook-off began 44 years ago, when retired Col. Harlam Bruha and retired Col. John Nickolauk were looking for a way to boost morale and decided a chili cook-off would be the way to do it. They started the Goodfellow Cook-off in one of the hangars on base. After the first couple of years, they contacted the organizers of the Terlingua Chili Cook-off and asked how Goodfellow could be part of that; Goodfellow then became the home of the International Armed Forces Chili Cook-off. Once Goodfellow acquired the Recreation Camp, the Chili Cook-off was moved out there and has been going strong ever since. The first Terlingua Chili Cook-off took place in 1967, in Terlingua, Texas. The cook-off challenge started when Allen Smith, Holiday Magazine journalist, wrote a story in August 1967 titled "Nobody Knows More About Chili Than I Do." He claimed that no one in Texas could make proper chili. When Frank Tolbert, Dallas Morning News journalist, saw Smith's article, he answered the challenge. The cook-off competition ended in a tie vote when the tie-breaking judge, Dave Witts, Dallas lawyer, spat out his chili, declaring that his taste buds were "ruint," and said they would have to do the whole thing over again next year. “It’s great for people and the community,” said Dunlap. “You have all this food for everyone to come out and enjoy.”
