The Black Diamond Miners Day celebration kicked off Saturday with a chili tasting fundraiser and plenty of food, fun and sun for everyone.

Ken Peach, president of the Washington state pod of the Chili Appreciation Society International or CASI, said the organization’s mission is to “raise money for local charities and promote chili.”

Peach, who is from Tacoma, said the the chili cook-offs set up by CASI have taken him and his wife Ruth to “places we would not have normally gone.”

Ruth Peach won a recent chili contest featuring kangaroo meat. She said her secret was “red wine.”