Fire at the Foothills event returns for 10th year

Because the 2020 Fire at the Foothills event was canceled due to COVID-19, technically this will be the 10th year for the city of Chelsea to host the annual event.

This will be the third year it will be at City Hall, and safety precautions will be in place, including mask and social distancing requirements.

“It’s an outside event,” said founder/organizer and Chelsea City Council member Scott Weygand. “We feel like everyone can be responsible and safe, and it’s our attempt at trying to get back to normalcy.”

This year’s event will feature a barbecue cookoff and dessert contest. The barbecue competition is judged and sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, and cash prizes will be given for the top three finishers for ribs, chicken and pork butt categories.

“We are hoping for at least 20 barbecue teams and will have a limit of 25,” Weygand said. “We’ve already had people sign up from all over Alabama and Mississippi. This event draws people in from all over the place.”

The dessert event will include cakes and pies and also kid’s cookies. Participants must register a week before the event, which will take place Saturday, April 17, from 1-4 p.m.

“It’s all free, we just ask for donations,” Weygand said. “All the funds raised [from the barbecue competition] go to the Chelsea Kiwanis Club, which helps local children’s charities. The dessert portion money raised will go to the Chelsea Fire Department’s fire education safety program that they teach in schools.”

For more information or to register, visit the city of Chelsea’s website or the Fire at the Foothills Facebook page.