Cook-off, cars call to crowd

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Between chili tasting, a car show and a cornhole tournament, Marion County Park and Lake was hopping Saturday.

Chili cooks hawked their culinary skills to eager tasters.

In one tent, sisters Annie Clark of Moundridge and Donna Tipton of Williamsburg offered Twisted Sister chili next to their husbands, Gary Clark of Moundridge and Sam Tipton of Williamsburg, who were offering White Rooster chili.

Sam Tipton admitted it would have a better ending for the husbands if the wives won the family competition.

However, the husbands took both first place and competitors champ awards.

The most colorful chili booth was set up by Todd Staum of Gardner, Brent Moddelmog of Galva, and Woody Farmer of Paola. They offered Groovy chili, complete with tie-dye colored wristbands, and served up by tie-dye wearing cooks with 1970s-style long hair and love beads.

Second place honors went to Rodger Perkins and third place to Julia Emmons.

Down the drive from the chili competition, a row of cars from classic to curious stood on display.

Marion resident Max Ewert brought his Wimbledon white 1965 Ford Mustang to display.

Ewert, then 23, ordered the first-year-production car in April 1964 and has had restoration work done, but still drives it to car shows and occasionally to church. In the meantime, he’s also owned a number of other cars.

“It has a generator on it, then they came out with carburetors,” Ewert said.

The car is a four-speed manual transmission with a 289 cu. in. engine with manual transmission.

Ewert set up a pair of drive-in theatre speakers alongside the car.

This was the second year he has shown his Mustang car at Marion County Park and Lake’s car show.

Nearby sat Lola the Super Beetle. A 1971 model, Gary Lewis, who lives at Marion Reservoir, found the car in a Hutchinson barn in 2016, where Lola had sat since 2005.

She did not run. Lewis put a brake system, carburetor, fuel line and fuel pump.

“Now I’m just tinkering with her to get her better,” Lewis said.

He drives Lola very seldom.

“She has her home in the garage,” Lewis said.

Other cars on display ranged from a 1967 Amphicar capable of being driven in water, to a bright, metallic red 1963 dune buggy, to a 1926 Hudson Essex Super Six.