By Craig Marx, Editor

With the wind chill factored in, the night of December 7th in Antigo felt like it was near zero degrees. That did not deter people from lining Fifth Avenue, however, and taking in the annual Christmas parade and chili cook-off sponsored by the Antigo/Langlade County Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s a chilly night out,” a young man standing next to me said as I took pictures of the parade vehicles passing by. It was quite possibly the most truthful pun I had ever heard.

While acknowledging the correct spelling in terms of context, the chili cook-off was judged based on the usual two separate categories: traditional and roughneck. In the traditional style, consisting of just beans and meat as its base, Baginski Enterprises took first place, followed by Thrivent Financial/Antigo Daily Journal and Limelight by Alcone, respectively.

In the roughneck category, which allows for a more wide-open range of ingredients, Waukesha Bearings took home the honors of first place, with Collins Insurance taking second and Antigo Special Olympics taking third.

Winners judged in the booth category itself included Kretz Brokerage in first, followed by the City of Antigo and Waukesha Bearings once again.

Having to sample chili all evening long is a somewhat daunting task, but the men and women that made the sacrifice were: in the traditional category – Bill Brandt and Michaela Krejcova of the Antigo Rotary Club, Gay Mantor of Langlade Ford, Al Higgins of NRG Media, and Diane Noskowiak of CoVantage Credit Union; for the roughneck category – Kevin Fischer of Volm Companies, Jon Smith of Schulz Heating and Cooling, Robert Robin of Walmart, and Tom Quinlan of Quinlan’s Equipment.