Cooking up a storm at 50 Lions fundraiser

April 30, 2025

By Leesa Teale, LPR Publisher

If you have never been to 50 Lions Who Can Cook just picture three huge white tents, hundreds of people laughing, eating and some loud music. Some may say that sounds just like a big old party, and well it really is just that but with a great cause bringing it altogether.

The rain didn’t stop people from coming to City Park in Lockhart Friday night as the 5th annual “50 Lions Who Can Cook” fundraiser drew a large crowd to not only enjoy great food but also with the end goal of raising a lot of money for the local school district.

The annual fundraiser brings celebrity chefs and taste-testers together to raise money to benefit the Education Foundation for Lockhart ISD.

Those participating as chefs this year hailed from all across Lockhart ISD, County/City Departments, and Community Partners.

“This night is one of the most fun and favorite fundraisers that happens in Lockhart,” said several attendees.

Each attendee was given a little bag that held bidding tokens, beverage tickets and a koozie when they walked through the front door.

Straight ahead was the Mystery gift bag table. This table is one of the busiest until it sells out. Anyone can purchase a bag for $20 and test their luck on what they find inside. Everyone is guaranteed to be a winner as the bags contain items valued at $25 up to $100 donated by area merchants. These were sold out quickly.

Then the serious business began as one could roam booth to booth to try the many different delicious treats that were especially prepared for this night.

Each booth not only took time to pick out their favorite recipe, but they also took a lot of time and put a lot of thought into their booth theme and some even donning costumes.

With different categories including, entrees, appetizers, desserts and soups and chili, available to taste, attendees used their bidding tokens to place their vote for the ones they considered top notch.

As bidding and tasting continued so did the silent auction. Over 20 items were auctioned off during the silent auction. Auction items included sports memorabilia and signed pieces from celebrities.

Once the votes were tallied, the anticipation grew to find out who was the Best Lion cook.

Awarded with large iron skillets, Top Chef in the Entree division went to Team Caldwell County, Hoppy Haden and Rusty Horne. Best Soup or Chili went to Team JJ, John Castillo and John Lairson, representing Lockhart City Council. Best Dessert went to Team Clear Fork, Michelle Hale and Kristi Summers with their Key Lime Pie. And last but not least the Best appetizer went to Tech Daddies, Hayden Wilson and Robert Banks for the Macaroni Brisket Bites. Second and third place winners were also chosen for each category and given smaller iron skillets. Before the top chefs were announced, another firece competition took place…the live auction. With big ticket items including trips, guns and handmade items the bidding wars began.

The biggest ticket items were the Bull Elk Hunt donated by Schmidt Ranch bringing over $8000 and the 7 night stay in Pagosa Springs donated by Jim and Ameila Smith bringing in over $5000.

A fun twist to the auction though, as some bidders thought there was only one item available, they were surprised to know that there were in fact two ready and waiting to go home with the highest bidders. Those items included 22” Long Rifle and 9mm pistol both donated by Livengood Feeds.

Other items included a round of golf for 4 at TPC San Antonio, a fishing trip for 4 in Matagorda, a grill and disc set donated Mill Scale Metalworks, a handcrafted picnic table and a metal and wood coffee table and end tables made by the students of LISD, a wooden A-Frame swing donated by McCoy’s and Hyatt Lost Pines donated a 2 night stay.

Last year’s total funds raised were over $110,000. This year’s numbers are still being reconciled but will be available soon.

The Education Foundation for Lockhart ISD was established in March 2014, with the express purpose of providing much-needed resources for innovative educational programs that are not funded through local, state or federal taxes. The Education Foundation is comprised of members of the Lockhart community who raise funds from private and corporate sources to support the educational process in Lockhart ISD through individual grants.