Salsa showdown meets harvest fun at Thrifty Foods Festival

By Lisa Phelps
lphelps@pcrecordtimes.com
WHEATLAND – Saturday’s harvest festival at Thrifty Foods in Wheatland brought the smell of fresh-roasted chilies and samples of excellent salsa were given out during Platte County Main Street’s salsa contest.

Locally made Wyoming products regularly available in-store at Thrifty Foods, such as Chugwater Chili, Hot Tamn’s, Cheyenne Coffee Co., and Wyoming Pure Beef were set up inside the store, and 15 vendors were set up in the parking lot. The Grotto liquor store served margaritas and there were Wyoming beer and vodka tastings.
“It was very well received, and a really good turnout. The venders did well outside and a lot of people showed up,” Thrifty Foods manager Paula Hamilton said.
The store gave away fresh-roasted hatch chilis while supplies lasted, beginning Saturday morning.
The harvest festival combined this year with Platte County Main Street’s salsa contest, which had some popular entries. One of the contests’ organizers, Ruth Herdt, said there was a great turnout with a lot of foot traffic.
Winners in the salsa contest were Veronica Zipperlen and Tina Killion for their mild salsa, and Prairie Fire, LLC in the hot salsa category. People’s choice for both mild and hot also went to the popular duo, Zipperlen and Killion.
Second place for mild salsa was Nicole Cifuentes, and third place went to José Esparza. Second place in the hot category went to Zipperlen and Killion; third place went to Aimee Caldwell.
“There were a lot of good comments and I wanted to say thanks for everyone who participated,” Herdt said.