ROCKLAND — Trackside Restaurant in Rockland was mobbed Sunday afternoon, as the Rockland Fire Department held its third annual Chili/Chowder Cook Off to benefit Muscular Dystrophy. Estimates ran as high as $3,000 raised for the charity. This story will be updated with winner results when they become available. Event coordinator Rockland Firefighter Carl Anderson said he was please with the turn out and the event. 

“So far, so good,” said Anderson. “Everybody is loving the chili. It’s been just as big of a turn out as last year. There are a lot of restaurants this year, a lot more then last year, so it’s a good assortment of Rockland, Rockport, Camden and Thomaston restaurants and individuals.”

Anderson said they didn’t have a final tally on the money raised this year.

“Our goal of course is to raise as much money as we can” he said. “We raised a little over $2,000 last year so we are trying to do at least three this year and I think we are pretty darn close to it. It’s an ongoing thing and we want to keep it going. It’s good for the community, and obviously good as a fundraiser, too.”

The cook-off was originally scheduled for February, but was cancelled due to snow. The March 8 make-up date didn’t seem to hurt any of the efforts.

“It was hard to scramble after that first date to try and get back on track,” he said. “We sent out a lot of flyers and talked to a lot of people, plus did some advertising. We tried our best and it looks pretty successful.” 

Mike Woods, owner and chef at Trackside, said he and his wife, Kelley, love having the event at their establishment.

“It’s about the community,” he said. “We do probably two or three dozen charitable activities every year.”

One unusual chowder came from Athena Pizzaria in Thomaston. Distinctly Greek in nature, the chowder hails from an old family recipe. 

Kavkavi is a Greek seafood chowder and uses clams, tomato, scallops, haddock, celery and some cayenne pepper.

“My stepfather handed down the recipe and we serve it at the restaurant,” said owner Jeremy Finnmore. “We serve it at the restaurant.”

Comidia, formally housed at 14 Elm Street in Camden, used the event to announce it has moved to 421 Main Street in Rockland.

“We moved because we feel Rockland is an up and coming town,” said chef Tom Sigler. “It is a great opportunity to expand what we do and bring our product to Rockland.”

Four ladies at a table — Terry Black, Terri Sukeforth, Alice Knight and Celia Knight — took the time to comment on the cook-off.

“It’s wonderful, I love it,” said Alice Knight.

Terri Sukeforth put a professional tasters bent to it all.  

“I tried each professional chowder and then each professional chili, and then the independents,” she said. “My favorite is Chris Oliver’s individual chowder. All of us liked it best.”