King Turkey Day expands to fairgrounds
January 27, 2012 at 9:08 am in Worthington Daily Globe
WORTHINGTON The King Turkey Day Board of Directors has announced plans to move several aspects of the annual community celebration out to the Nobles County Fairgrounds this year.
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It’s unfortunate that they are splitting up the festival around town. It’d be nice if it was all centrally located. Also, when I think of going to King Turkey Day I really don’t think about being able to hit up Wal-Mart or other retail stores half way through.
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The board of Directors that made this decision forgot that it is the PARADE that is the draw for KTD. All other entities are added events to enhance the parade. These are things for people to do before and after the parade. If all of the people are downtown for everything else who’s going to be out at the NOBLES COUNTY(not city limits)Fair Grounds.. Good luck vendors. you’ll be miles away from the people.
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Wow, What are they thinking? Why ruin a good thing? Now it is going to be even more difficult for people to meet up with each other. I can honestly say that this is not the smartest idea. Why can the beer garden not be in the present location? The Friday night ping pong drop and the Turkey triathalon could be on tenth street and the midway could be moved to fourth ave. Then the fire trucks would have the room to go out if they needed to.
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The new fire station will not even be open in Sept.. Nothing would need to move.
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What a joke its not nobles county turkey days its worthingtons,theres plenty of room uptown yet !!!
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Am I incorrect in thinking that KTD is for the people? I understand that we need to have a board of directors to spearhead the planning of all the activities and I commend any and all members that have ever served on this board because I’m certain it is an outrageous amount of work. However, I also believe that if a huge change like this is even considered, it shouldnt be taken lightly and the decision should not be made without at least hearing the voice of the people.
I agree with a prior comment that the portions of the KTD that have been deemed necessary to be moved are in fact enjoyed by the people before , during & after the parade. It has been so nice for how many years to be able to walk and mingle and catch up with old friends while being a stones throw away from virtually all KTD activities. It just seems like there has to be a better way.
Lets play with some figures….In Feb., a bunch of enthusiastic KTD supporters will gather at Oxford Bowl in a bowling tournament centered on raising $ to help run KTD. Going with last years tournment participation, if $20 of the $30 entry fee that each person pays goes directly towards KTD, that totals about $5300. I’d be interested to find out how much of the money raised by this bowling tournament will be spent on renting the Nobles County Fairgrounds. Im guessing a large portion!!!
KTD board, please create some sort of forum to let the people voice there opinions about this issue! Thats the least the current and past residents of our community deserve with the long history this celebration represents!
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What we have is a KTD board (not even elected) who are drunk on power and dont know what they are doing. The elite few who are making the decisions cant see the long term adversity this will cause. And the fair grounds is struggling, so there must be some collaboration (fairboard suggestions) there. The idea of the local people having input is good, but not likely. You cant please every body, so just please yourself and be done with it. If you dont like the idea of KTD at the fairgrounds, then boycott it, dont go!!!!!! And see if common sense prevails. The old saying “if it aint broke, dont fix it” works here. Truth, there are alternate sites downtown that would have worked about the same as the fairgrounds. If the fairgrounds doesn’t work for you, then dont go. I personally and my family will be downtown, not the fairgrounds.
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I agree with the prior noted concerns about moving events for KTD to the fairgrounds. Why mess with traditions? KTD has grown and become a popular regional event. Driving across town to the fairgrounds does not sound appealing or inviting for any attendees. It makes sense to keep KTD events downtown. What do downtown business owners think about the proposed changes? I would argue they could lose much business. I think it is a risky and unnecessary move, which would likely decrease attendance at any events held at the fairgrounds, which could lead to less vendor involvement in subsequent years. KTD is about the community, bringing people together to catch up with those near and far.
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This is a completely unnecessary move. In my honest opinion you are setting the future years of this celebration up for a tough road.
You will have 2 seperate locations, so your vendors will essentially have to pick between 2 different spots to set up. Since the locations are going to be from roughly 9 AM to 4 PM downtown, and the rest will be at the fairgrounds, they will not make nearly the money they have in the past. This could lead to vendors deciding in the future to not return due to not getting their value out of the time, money, and energy to do such an event.
Many people do not want to go to the fairgrounds for the beer garden. This has been mentioned SEVERAL times by several different people. Now the beer garden is suffering. The inflatables are not all that inviting other than to a group of 5 year olds, so that isn’t much of a draw.
Room is not the issue here. There is something underlying, but I can’t say for sure what it is. A proponant of this decision (any one of the KTD board members that voted yes on this) will tell you that it’s for room, for growth, for electricity, for a more diverse business appeal. It’s none of these I don’t believe. A plan was submitted for a layout downtown and agreed upon by people who would need to make decisions of this matter. Power has been donated by a very generous member for a good amount of time now (although a generator must be rented, but it must be for both locations), the KC BBQ is growing, but that was taken into consideration and remedied with the layout submission, and the business community in that area has the greatest exposure in town due to Wal-mart. I hope the board will have heard the voices of the community by now and make the right choice by rethinking this decision at this time, and saving it for when it really needs to be moved due to the immense growth in the future.
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I should have added to my previous post that these are simply my opinions, and the opinions of many others that I have spoken to about this subject. I may be right, I may be wrong (wouldn’t be the first time either way). If the magic bullet reason is out there, I hope someone could explain it so we can all move on and have the greatest Turkey Day celebration to date no matter where the location is!
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A midway at the fairgrounds? Hmm, let’s hope it’s a much better midway than what is offered during the fair. My grandkids are tired of having to get tetanus shots just to go on one of the four rides. I remember when I was a child attending Turkey Day. Awesome carnival atmosphere, un-ending things for the kids to do after the parade, including the caramel apples at Langs Bakery (yummmm). Dad, before he passed, finally quit going. He and mom used to just sit and watch all the small children riding rides, playing games, etc. He enjoyed their squeels of joy and un-ending laughter. He always said when they turned it into a huge beer party and forgot the kids, it was time to stay home.
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