CHILI DAY SET TODAY AT ARENA

Noon Optimist Club members were to be up at 5:30 this morning preparing chili for today's annual Chili Day.

Club members will serve chili from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the A.C. Brase Arena Building.

The event should net about $2,000 for the Youth Football League, which teaches the game's basics to about 130 children in grades five through seven.

The league has been in existence eight years, as long as Chili Day, Optimist president Pat McCann said.

The group uses beans, tomatoes and sauce by the case for its chili recipe. Last year, the group served 800 people.

"Dr. Bob Fox has been the heart and soul of Chili Day for years," McCann said. "He has a special recipe committed to memory, so if anything happens to him, that's the end."

Tickets cost $4 for adults and $2 for children 10 and younger. A ticket entitles its bearer to lots of chili -- mild or hot -- cheese, crackers, hot dogs, soft drinks and homemade desserts.

McCann suggested only the strong at heart try the hot chili. He prefers a mixture of hot and mild.

"The hot is almost nuclear," he said. "If you eat a bowl at noon, you'll get feeling back into your mouth around 8 p.m."

Almost 100 percent of the Noon Optimist Club's membership participates in Chili Day. The group receives help from various businesses, which provide supplies at cost or at a reduced price.