Police will be at the forefront of a celebration Saturday in Cloverdale, as it is time for the third annual Back the Blue Chili Fest.

According to Amanda Seniour, one of the organizers, the event originated to “bridge the gap between the Police Department and the community, as well as assisting the needs of the department.”

“The Event has grown a little bit every year, and this will be our 3rd year doing it,” Seniour told The Putnam County Post.

The festivities will be held at Cloverdale City Hall and feature a 5k at 8 am, 20-plus vendors in the high school, a performance by the Cloverdale High School band, and much more, including the chili fest, which starts at 10:30 a.m.

“We have numerous raffle baskets people can purchase raffle tickets for. At 12pm the Ye Ole Inn will open up the corn hole registration and the tournament will start at 1p.m.,” Seniour said.

In addition, the band Blue Flame will be playing at the Cloverdale Police Department from 1 pm to 3 pm, and there will also be a live auction at 4 pm to wrap up the day. 

“What we enjoy most about this event is the whole community coming together and getting to have a one on one with all of our officers. All of the local business really step up and make this grow every year,” Seniour said.

She said she looks forward to the kids interacting with police during the event.

“I really enjoy seeing all the kids come out and build a good relationship with our officers. I’m not from Cloverdale originally, we moved our kids down here almost 8 years ago and have not regretted it. Cloverdale is a small town and has all the small town features and this one event is a prime example of that,” she said.