Chili cook-off serves charity

COSTA MESA — Todd Johnston got to be the star at his own party Sunday.

The wine bar manager at Hi-Time Wine Cellars was among more than a dozen contestants entering the store’s 50th anniversary charity chili cook-off.

At the end of the day, after six hours of chili, live music and celebration, the judges announced the winners of the contest, and Johnston nabbed the top prize — a sterling silver cup that he planned to use for tips at the wine bar.

So what did Johnston put in his award-winning pot? That was a tightly guarded secret.

“I can’t tell you, because then I won’t win next year,” he said, clutching his trophy in one hand and a beer in the other.

Johnston wasn’t the only winner of the day, however. Hi-Time Wine Cellars got to celebrate its half-century mark with friends, as the Costa Mesa Police Department, Skosh Monahan’s, the Harbor Pediatric Medical Group and others set up booths with their homemade recipes.

The proceeds from the event, meanwhile, went to the Boys and Girls Club of the Harbor Area, which needed funds for educational programs with the school year about to begin. Dan Monahan, the club’s executive director, milled around the Hi-Time parking lot on Ogle Street as customers bought raffle tickets and paid their $5 gate admission.

“It’s perfect timing because the club opens Sept. 4,” he said. “If we get some proceeds from this, we’ll be up and running.”

Most of the chili vendors came either out of loyalty to Hi-Time, the Boys and Girls Club or both. Stone Brewing Co. came up from San Diego because, according to sales representative Andrea Minnier, the wine store was one of their top buyers.

“We’re thrilled for Hi-Time,” she said. “It’s fantastic. We love them.”

Officer Heather Keller of the Costa Mesa Police Department, who went on to take the special award of merit, put everything she could think of into her pot — red meat, lean meat, vegetables and beans — to appeal to as wide a crowd as possible.

“It’s got to please all the palette,” she said.