Apple Valley events committee schedules chili cook-off for March 29, outlines plans for Easter hunt and summer events

Apple Valley — Members of the Apple Valley Events Committee agreed to schedule the town’s chili cook-off for March 29 at 4 p.m. and discussed formats and tentative dates for the Easter egg hunt, Fourth of July activities, an ice cream social and fall events during their meeting on the 13th.

The committee framed the meeting as a planning session to set dates and basic logistics for recurring community events. Organizers agreed that proceeds from the chili cook-off will go to the fire department, that attendees will be charged $5 per bowl, and that the committee will supply cornbread and bottled water. A 50/50 raffle was discussed as an additional fundraiser.

Committee members emphasized operational details that must be resolved before the events: confirming whether the chili cook-off will be held inside the building or outdoors, ensuring electrical service and extension cords for outdoor setups, and clarifying how proceeds are routed through town accounting. Members reported that the town event fund balance is roughly $4,000 but said some amounts have already been earmarked or spent; one organizer said she personally lost $270 in silent-auction proceeds tied to a previous event.

On the Easter egg hunt, the committee discussed holding the activity in April and settling the exact date soon; participants raised the need for staggered age-group times so small children are not crowded by older participants. Committee members debated limits per child and ultimately agreed on a planning guideline of roughly 10 eggs per child and separating very young children into a smaller area to improve safety and fairness.

Summer plans discussed included a July 4 celebration with a dunk tank and food (hot dogs or burgers) and a separate June or late‑summer event to supply hamburgers and hot dogs with sides provided by attendees. The group proposed an ice cream social in late August and a Founders Day event in September (members mentioned the week around Sept. 27 as a candidate). For the fall, the committee set trunk-or-treat to start around 5:30 p.m., asked that participating vehicles display lighting, and proposed using luminary-style LED bags to add safe path lighting.

Implementation tasks were assigned informally: produce a public flyer for the March chili cook-off (members agreed not to delay publicity), check town accounting and receipts, confirm power availability at the outdoor site (several members asked “Mike” to verify electrical service), and source or buy new Christmas decorations for the town in time for the December holiday program. The committee also discussed continued use of the fire department as the chili-cookoff beneficiary and whether the committee should run the event independently outdoors so cleanup and logistics are under the committee’s control.

Several practical items were clarified in discussion: a prior chili cook-off had more than 30 chili entries in one year; one organizer said a volunteer provided more than 500 plastic eggs for a past hunt; raffle tickets historically sold for $1 each; and the committee noted that cornbread is inexpensive to produce and is a likely in-kind supply for the chili event. Members asked that receipts for reimbursable purchases be photographed and sent to the committee treasurer to maintain the fund balance.

The meeting closed with the committee confirming the March 29 chili date and time, agreeing to finalize logistics and publicity at the next meeting, and adding purchase of Christmas decorations and resolution of the town’s event-fund accounting to future agendas.