A snippet from National Press Club history: Senators Goldwater, Tower duel in chili cookoff

"Chili cook-off: Sizzling home-made chili has been a delicacy on the National Press Club menu for decades. And the Club has been the scene for some memorable chili-cooking contests. None was more uproarious than a 1974 cook-off featuring Congressional chefs. That well-seasoned, well-fueled event ended in a warmly disputed tie between two Southwestern senators-Barry Goldwater of Arizona and John Tower of Texas. The National Press Club--where news (some of it red-hot) is made in the Nation's capital."

This snippet was one of many put together by the late Art Wiese, who served as Club president in 1979. He was responsible for planning much of the reconstruction of the Club during its renovation in the early 1980s. In his later years, he put together a series of snippets on the Club's history. In honor of his passing last year, The Wire is running one of them each week while they last.