CANADA—On the snowy evening of January 18, more than 60 members from the Milton and London, Ontario, congregations gathered together after services for their annual chili cook-off and Bunco night.

Preaching Elder Fred Dattolo and Local Elder Timothy Oostendarp, along with deacons Dan Gauvreau and Robert Friesen, judged the 14 chili dishes and five curry dishes. Then the feast of spicy flavors began for the congregation as a whole, followed by dessert.

The winning chili chefs were Rosemarie Friesen (first place), Carrie Gauvreau (second place) and Julie Birkle (third place). The prize for best curry dish went to Janet Sankar.

After everyone ate their fill, they played arguably the most exhilarating game that can be played with three dice: Bunco. Players alternated turns rolling three dice, aiming to obtain a target number and earning one point for each die that matches the target and 21 points for three-of-a-kind of the target number (a Bunco).

The room was filled with the sound of dice rolling, bells ringing, cheers and sighs of disbelief at the dice-rolling skills of a select few. The Bunco games were “a good way for everyone to mix and have a good time,” local teen Daniel Di Santo said. “The game was simple yet fun.”

Two tiebreakers were needed to determine the night’s winners. A tiebreaker is won by the first person to roll any three-of-a-kind. The tiebreaker for most wins ended as quickly as it began when Stephen Maydanski rolled a match on his first try. The second tiebreaker went on an on until, unbelievably, both parties rolled a match at the exact same time (the tie was verified by video playback from Gauvreau’s smartphone). Mary Ann McCullough mercifully rolled another match shortly afterward to break the tie.

“Everybody makes it so enjoyable,” member Jeanette Robertson said. “It is a great place to be and always fun because we’re all here together.”