2-11-2025 9:03pm

Everyone Wins at SASC's Souper Bowl Competition

Fans of football were glued to their televisions for the Super Bowl action this weekend, but not before fans of soup celebrated their own competition at the Saline Area Senior Center.

The annual Souper Bowl competition was held on Friday, with local businesses and organizations vying for the title of best soup. A panel of judges made their choices, along with over one hundred visitors who came to the event to sample twenty two soups and vote for their favorites.

This year, the Judges Choice and People’s Choice winner in the category of vegetarian/vegan was Heather Sutton with Life Choices and the entry of Butternut Squash.

“We had great attendance, and met a lot of great people,” said Heather Sutton, executive director of Life Choices/EHM Senior Solutions.

Liberty Club won the Judge’s Choice in the category of Best Hearty Meat with their entry of white chicken chili.

“It was great. This was our first time doing it,” said Shannon Macy, director of Liberty Club. “Our participants of Liberty Club actually did a competition themselves to vote on their favorite chili last month, and that was the recipe we used to submit.”

In addition to the chili, Liberty Club also provided all the football-themed centerpieces for the tables.

“Liberty Club makes the centerpieces for a lot of the senior center’s luncheons, including this souper bowl event. Every year, we bring them back but we trade out all of the flags and decorations for whatever teams are playing in the Super Bowl that year.”

The People’s Choice Award for Best Hearty Meat went to Comfort Keepers of Ann Arbor for their entry of Marry Me Chicken Soup.

“It was a lot bigger than last year, so it’s great. We need more soup flights in life,” said Megan Kenyon, SASC program director. “We had 22 soups to taste.”

For a $5 entry fee, guests were able to try a variety of soups and chilis. Kenyon said that proceeds from the competition will help fund programming at SASC, such as Meals on Wheels and future events and classes.

Saline resident Cheryl Schoen attended the event for the first time last year, and made it a point to come back again this year.

“It’s so much fun to taste all these different soups at one time,” Schoen said. “The senior center has wonderful offerings and friendly people, and these events allow you to get to know more people from your community.”