Local MLAs Shirley Bond and Mike Morris tempt Spring Bazaar-goers with their chili    250News photo

Prince George, BC – Saying the sunshine, not her chili, was as 'hot as blazes', Prince George-Valemount MLA is vying for votes of a different kind today at the 39th Annual Great Northern Chili Cook Off & Arts Bazaar on the front lawns of Studio 2880…

The annual event, hosted by the Prince George Community Arts Council and Prince George Potters Guild sees a number of local community groups – including  our local MLAs, CFIS-FM Community Radio, Huble Homestead, the 2015 Canada Winter Games – offering up their version of the spicy stew.

City residents buy a bowl from the Potters Guild and are then able to sample all the selections before casting their ballot.  The cook off continues until 3pm.

David and Jeanette Greenberg have been attending the event for a number of years.

Jeanette says they have a cupboard full of pottery bowls at home to show for their efforts.

So far, after four samples, David was favouring this year's culinary delight created by the Prince George Public Library.

While admitting that the weather was bolstering turn-out today, the President of the Prince George Potters' Guild, Karen Heathman, says the cook off has a very dedicated following.

"They tend to come out rain or shine," Heathman says, while throwing a bowl on her potter's wheel.

In between chili samplings, city residents are able to wander the art market, which is feature the works of members of the Quilters' Guild, PG Fiber Arts Guild, Artists' Workshop, Artists' Co-op, and PG Wood Turner's Guild.

Photo below shows Art Betke (right) working the lathe to create a tealight holder and Ron Clemmons (left) giving a final polish to a bowl made – both pieces are made from pine beetle wood.

The men say they enjoy working with the blue wood, and while it's typically just two or three centimetres of the 'sap' wood that's blue, they seek out wood where they stain has gone deeper.