Barbara Lawlor, Gold Hill.  The sound of a fiddle, the spicy aroma of chili, and the stomping of feet on a wood floor drifted out of the third story of the Colorado Mountain Ranch Sunday afternoon. It smelled good enough to eat, sounded good enough to dance to, and the cause was a good enough reason to empty one’s pockets.

It also was just what some locals needed to shrug off winter’s chill and greet the right-around-the-corner spring. Gold Hill residents brought in their favorite chili recipes for an old fashioned cook-off and then added pot luck favorites to the feast.

Gold Hill School principal’s assistant JoJo Morrison explained that the event was the first annual Preserve Gold Hill History fundraiser, a Photo Pal fundraiser and a Colorado Mountain Ranch Summers Scholarship Fundraiser.

Gold Hill students exchange pictures with students in Thailand and funds will go to that program through the school. Funding will also be used to help children attend the CMR summer camp, to support its programs, and to maintain the historic facility.

The event was recorded to preserve the music of long time residents Bill and Crystal Atkinson and No Bird Ever Flew for the Gold Hill Museum. The Atkinson octogenarians have been street performers on the 16th Street Mall in Denver and on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, playing hillbilly music and calling square dance and contra barn dance music for decades. Bill did the dance calling and Crystal played the fiddle.

Chili Cook-off organizer Debra Yeager announced the cook-off winners: First place went to Larry Worster for his chicken green chili. Worster accepted his chili cook-off apron prize with humility and grace and said, “I want to thank all the children in the world and the chilis in Hatch.”

Rick Easman took second place with his Lickskillet Squirrel Bottom Chili and wasn’t giving out the recipe. Third place went to Max Yeager, who cooked up a batch of country chili with pork. He said he also added cauliflower, pearl onions and mushrooms and yellow peppers for color.

The dancers swung their partners and enjoyed the company of friends and neighbors, all for three good causes.