Group effort — behind the scenes at Optimist Chili Day

Early Wednesday morning, members of the Cape Noon Optimist Club started making the title fare for the club's 36th annual Chili Day at Cape Girardeau's A.C. Brase Arena Building.

With 20 pounds of beef and 10 pounds of pork in each batch of chili, head cook Bob Fox said they make 20 batches of chili which are near 30 gallons each.

"We'll go through about 12 recipes at lunch which will feed about 1,200 people," Fox said.

Making the event a reality is a group effort and is a chance for the club to experience some comradery, according to Doug Lester of Cape Girardeau.

"When I was working, I took a day off and just came over here and worked all day," Lester said. "And that's what most of the guys do, cause it takes all of us to do it. ... Whatever we need to do, we just pitch in and do it."

Frank Glueck of New Hamburg, Missouri, adds beans to chili being made by Jim Main of Cape Girardeau before the Cape Noon Optimist Club's 36th annual Chili Day on Wednesday at the Arena Building in Cape Girardeau.Jacob Wiegand

Lester said the event has gone through changes over the years.

"We used to have a hot chili eating contest until we decided that wasn't really the right thing to do. It was so hot we had a couple people had to go to the hospital," Lester said.

Another thing making Chili Day unique is the band "Back in Black," Fox said. He said the band only performs once a year, and that's at Chili Day.

Wednesday the band's set list included a variety of hits including Laura Branigan's "Gloria" and the Eagles' "Seven Bridges Road."

Dave Johnson of Cape Girardeau said he's been taking part in Chili Day since its inception and said the event has changed "drastically" through the years.

Cape Noon Optimist Club president Virgil Jones, left, and fellow member Jim Main, both of Cape Girardeau, work with peppers while making chili before the club's 36th annual Chili Day on Wednesday.

Johnson said the first time the event was held they had picked Ash Wednesday, a day where many don't eat meat, and actually lost money on the event.

"Since then it's been fairly successful," Johnson said. "That was the first year. ... It was our learning experience."

Fox said funds raised at the event support youth activities such as youth sports, high school booster clubs and youth and government day.

"We try to spread it around everywhere around the area," Fox said.

Although it varies, Fox said they'll typically feed about 1,800 to 2,000 people a year.