Soup 'R' Bowl of Chili Challenge Returns to Lakehurst Historical Society

Come out and taste some delicious, warm soup and chili this weekend, and vote for your favorite when the Lakehurst Borough Historical Society holds iits Fourth Annual Soup “R” Bowl of Chili Challenge.

Tickets for the Saturday, Jan. 28 event, which runs from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the borough's community center on Center Street, are $5.00 and can be purchased at the door or ahead of time at the Lakehurst Historical Society Museum, Colonial Bouquet Flower Shop, The Lakehurst VFW, and the Fleet Reserve Association. Children under five years old will be admitted free.

Like last year, each ticket will count as two votes-one for People’s Choice best chili and one for best soup. A new contest will also be added this year.

“A secret panel of judges will be voting for Best in Show — either a soup or chili," said Kathy Abrahamsen, event organizer and corresponding secretary of the Lakehurst Historical Society. "There will be a trophy that the winner can take home. This category will be judged on different criteria, rather than just people’s choice."

Organizations participating in the cook off this year are the borough fire company, VFW, the , Knights of Columbus, and the event host, the Historical Society.

There will also be a 50/50 raffle and a gift basket auction. Tickets can be purchased separately for these at the event. 

“There will be a variety of 15-20 baskets such as kitchen themed baskets, baby themed baskets, children, and gardening themed baskets," Abrahamsen said. "These baskets are being put together by our members and people in the organizations, so we are looking forward to that as a different aspect for this year."

All proceeds will go to the Lakehurst Historical Museum for the oil heating bills and the everyday operational costs. Abrahamsen said that she also hopes to use some of the funds raised to purchase digital photo frames for the museum. 

“We would like to have digital photo frames so that we can transfer our photos instead of having them handled all of the time," she said. "Putting them on a screen that people can see them on and flip through without the actual item being abused will help to preserve items longer.”

Abrahamsen has many expectations for the challenge this year.

“We are hoping for an excellent turn out. We are hoping that the gift auction will attract more people this year, and we are hoping that the weather will hold up,” she said.

“Each year is a challenge for us because we are always looking for ways to improve the event. We try to learn from the year before to make it more user friendly and more organization friendly,” Abrahamsen said.

For more information, Abrahamsen can be reached by calling 908-839-7388.