Chili run a big hit again in Monson Snowsled delivery aids rec department

MONSON – Kim LaBlanc pulled her father’s snowmobile to a stop earlier this month next to two rugged men who were standing near fishing traps they had assembled on Lake Hebron.

David Sickles of Barnard and Don Smart of Sebec had been waiting for LaBlanc’s arrival, having watched her tool around the lake hawking her wares here and there during the annual ice-fishing derby sponsored by the American Legion Towne-Holmbom Post.

“It’s the chili wagon,” Sickles exclaimed as LaBlanc shut off the ignition to the snowmobile and jumped off.

“How’s the fishing?” LaBlanc inquired of the men and Smart’s daughter Jennifer, 10, who had shuffled in the snow toward the men.

“Haven’t caught anything yet,” Smart replied. Both he and Sickles automatically reached into their pockets, pulled out a wad of dollar bills and handed them to LaBlanc.

That triggered a reaction from Devenee LaBlanc, 14, who was perched on a tote sled being hauled behind her mother’s snowmobile. Devenee jumped up from her seat, opened a large cooler next to her, pulled out 2 pints of still steaming chili, and handed them to the men.

“We never catch a fish but we still keep coming every year … for the chili,” said Sickles.

For the fifth consecutive year, LaBlanc, 36, has volunteered her time making chili and then delivering it over the approximately 3-mile lake to fisherman, snowmobilers and camp owners as a fundraiser for the Monson Recreation Department.

“The Monson Recreation Department is extremely busy and extremely active in the town,” LaBlanc said. Multiple activities are offered locally by the department, from cheerleading to basketball. The chili proceeds and the returnable bottle collection that LaBlanc also nets from the run are used by the department for special needs, such as the purchase of uniforms for local teams.

Up until this year, LaBlanc had partnered with Maureen Trefethen, who first organized the chili benefit run. When Trefethen decided this year to spend time fishing with family during the derby, LaBlanc took over the role.

“It’s a good fundraiser and I didn’t want to see it stop,” LaBlanc said. “A lot of people just expect it.”

To pull it off this year, LaBlanc enlisted the help of her mother and father, Gloria and Richard Sears, along with her daughters Deseray, 10, and Devenee. Since her parents live on the Indian Point Loop Road on the lake, LaBlanc used their home as her operational base.

That’s where the day before the run, the family chopped 5 pounds of onions, 4 pounds of green peppers and cooked 15 pounds of hamburger.

“Mom and I cried a lot while we did the onions,” LaBlanc said with a hearty laugh Saturday.

The onions, peppers and hamburger, as well as 24 cans of kidney beans, 12 cans of sauce, chili powder, habanero powder, jalapenos and jalapeno juice, and a pinch of Gloria Sears’ secret powder were assembled into a large roaster and two crockpots and were simmered overnight.

“It’s not extremely spicy but it’s got a little zip to it,” LaBlanc pronounced after a taste test Saturday.

With lunchtime nearing, Sears and LaBlanc ladled the chili into 51 pint containers and put them into a cooler that had been heated with rice bags.

When the process was completed, LaBlanc and Devenee donned their winter garments, hefted the filled cooler outside and onto the tote sled, and took off on the snowmobile.

“When it’s all done and over with, it makes me feel good to think that we’ve gone out there and raised money for the kids in our community,” LaBlanc said.

This year’s chili run raised $117 for the department.