While the chili contest at Knoxville High School’s Hall of Fame night fell through, another went on as scheduled.

The City of Knoxville had its annual employee chili cook-off; nine entries representing various different city departments were put up for judging inside the break room at City Hall on Thursday. Employees, managers and the general public were encouraged to taste all the chilies and then vote for the one they preferred.

Police Chief Dan Losada tells KNIA/KRLS News the contest was his idea; it was launched 14 years ago, on his first anniversary with the department, and over the years he’s seen a lot of creative entries.

“We get some very unusual chilies; in past years, we had them made out of pork and chicken, venison; we had one with hot dogs in it; we’ve had them with potatoes…all kinds of things. We had a seafood chili one year. So we never know what’s going to show up,” Chief Losada says.

“And it’s so much fun to see what people define ‘chili’ as, because everyone has something slightly different.”

Jamie Marshall from the Water Reclamation Department came away as the winner of the Golden Ladle for this year; Jac Agan from the Knoxville Fire Department came in second, and Chief Losada was third.