Some recipes were spicy, others were hot, and a few were mild — but over all, every cup of chili contributed to the immense success of the 2nd annual Alabama River Chili Cookoff held on Water Avenue Thursday.

The cookoff featured 27 teams, all fighting for the title of fan favorite, most spirited and the prestigious best judged category. And after the judges sampled each teams’ chili, it was Trustmark Bank who proved victorious.

“It feels great,” Trustmark’s Charlie Morgan said moments after Trustmark was announced the winner of the best judged category. “It’s good because this is our first event as a team, this is a great welcome to Selma for us.”

And although Trustmark received the top award, Morgan said there was no secret involved in making the award-winning chili.

“I just threw some stuff together and mixed it up — there was no recipe,” Morgan said. “Our taste starts out mild and then you take a few bites and it gives you a kick — but not too much to burn you up.”

Coming in second for best judged was Marion Bank and Trust. Henry Brick, last year’s winner, came in third. First Cahawba Bank claimed the title of fan favorite and Dr. Julie Sams, whose team donned cowboy hats and colorful scarves, received the most spirited award.

All the proceeds from the cookoff, which is organized annually by Leadership Selma-Dallas County and sponsored this year by Moore-Stewart Ford, went to the Dallas County Family Resource Center.

Donna Long, the center’s executive director, said the funding couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.

“Just the excitement of the community coming together and be willing to do this has been amazing,” Long said. “There’s so many different ideas and dreams we have, we just haven’t had the funding in place, so this will help us tremendously.”

Beth Moore, a team member of one of International Paper Riverdale Mill’s two cooking teams, said she and her team members “couldn’t have had more fun at the cookoff.”

“This has been such an awesome time and I’m so excited we decided to do this,” Moore said, adding the taste of her team’s chili is “mild but wonderful.”

And for some residents like Jennifer Dotty, the event acted as a family affair.

“I think my son has had the most chili out of anyone,” Dotty said of her 18-month old son, Jake. “We’ve had so much fun out here today as a family and we hope this happens every year.”

Before Water Avenue closed and hundreds of residents went home with bellies full of chili, Morgan said he and his team will be back again next year, hoping for another victory.

“Of course we have to come back next year,” Morgan said. “We have to defend our title.”