Page 8 - MIL Connection Winter 2018

Charleston Animal Society 19th Annual Chili Cook-off and Oyster Roast

This past November, the Charleston MIL Team helped celebrate the Charleston Animal Society’s 19th
Annual Chili Cook-off and Oyster Roast as a sponsor and entrant in the cook-off competition. Liza Neal
and fiancé, Adam, Kathy Foster, and Stenio Freitas led the team and provided their chili expertise as the
team chefs! During the event, over 7,500 Charleston animal lovers had the opportunity to taste over 100
different chili entries, listen to live bands along the Cooper River, adopt a rescue dog on-site, or step up to
the roasted oyster bar for an all-you-can eat extravaganza.
In the South Carolina low-country, oyster roasts are as much about eating as they are about socializing and
celebrating. Oyster “season” is limited to months with an “R” in them…so we take every advantage from
September to April and prepare them in hundreds of different ways. At the risk of sounding like Bubba
(Gump), we eat ‘em boiled, broiled, sautéed, fried, roasted, baked, baked with Parmesan and spinach (aka
Oyster Rockefeller), or suck them raw. When we’re full of eating them, we wash them down with one last
little guy buried in a shot glass with vodka, cocktail sauce, hot sauce, and a slice of lemon.
Our MIL team represented well in the chili competition and to draw in more guests, they offered a Chili
Pepper shaped piñata filled with sweet prizes for the young ones and beverages of the mini-bottle kind, for
the adults! Thank you, MIL’s Chef Team, and to everyone who attended in support of such a worthy cause!

MIL Department of State, Charleston

Holiday Luncheon

The MIL Charleston Department of State team took a break on
December 13th to celebrate the season with a delicious catered
buffet by Mosaic. MIL’s leadership and volunteer team really
outdid themselves this year. From the desserts (is that baklava?) to
the goodie bags, each employee had a chance to take a moment to
unwind and just enjoy the moment (without talking about work).
The afternoon was topped off with a holiday game of “The RIGHT
Family Reunion” … a hilarious twist on “hot potato” where players
pass the gift along according to the directions given within the
story being told (left, right, or across). Simple at first until the
story speeds up and people’s listening skills are put to a hilarious
test of “pass right, no left, wait…right, right?” Peg Kendra, the
Party emcee, broke the MIL team into four groups according to
the quarter in which they were born (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, etc.).
This gave MIL mates a chance to connect in a smaller setting
and increased their chances of ending up holding the coveted
Christmas miracle (aka “the gift)!
A special thank you to the planning committee…Sarah Kelly,
Katie McCurry, Allyson Moffat, and Monique McElveen—we
really appreciate all the special touches and hard work you put
into this event!

8 | The mil connection | winter 2018