TEQUESTA — Chili cooked up in Paradise Park helped honor Levant Bender’s part in the fight against Adolf Hitler.
The 98-year-old World War II veteran was flown in April to Washington, D.C., by a local charity — Southeast Florida Honor Flight — to visit the memorial dedicated to that war, where children, parents and other visitors greeted him and other veterans with cheers and cards. Bender was recalling that story, and his war stories, Saturday afternoon at the 13th Annual Tequesta Chili Cook-Off, which raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for local veteran-serving nonprofits such as Southeast Florida Honor Flight.
The cook-off, held two days before the Veterans Day federal holiday, hosted 28 teams cooking chili for a panel of judges that included Mayor Molly Young, Palm Beach County Commissioner Maria Marino, local TV news reporters and local chefs.
Meat-scented smoke wafted from the booths of the competing teams manned by firefighters from different fire departments across the county. Children entertained themselves with a bounce house. A grass-colored Oshkosh military truck sat in the middle, guarded by men in uniform.