Spearfish Lake Chili Festival

The Spearfish Lake Chamber of Commerce had tried a number of different summer festival formats over the years, mostly without much success.

In 1974 the Women's Club experimented with a “Chili Festival” which might have gone well in the winter but was a little out of place in August. The Chili Festival only lasted a couple of years.

The Women's Club had trouble finding judges for the 1975 Chili Festival because the judges that survived the prevciousl year weren't anxious to tempt fate again. They persuaded Bud Ellsberg, Kirsten Langenderfer and Mike McMahon to be judges.^AF7

Hjalmer Lindahlsen, who had entered Lutefisk Chili the previous year called his 1975 entry Retrofire Chili. When asked if he was up to any tricks he said "No, I had my laughs last year. This year I tried to play it straight." Retrofire Chili was about the mildest of the 17 entries and was awarded the prize - a gas grill and a porta-potty.

Hjalmer Lindahlsen's entry was the most gas-producing chili ever known to man^DW24 with a delayed action which didn't show up for several hours.^AF7