Bowling tourney a huge success
King Turkey Day full of fun and laughterWORTHINGTON — In the five years the annual King Turkey Day (KTD) Bowling Tournament has taken place, the event has grown to include three rounds of bowling and this year included 240 bowlers filling 48 teams.
By: Justine Wettschreck, Worthington Daily Globe
- Turkey Day Bowling Event
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WORTHINGTON — In the five years the annual King Turkey Day (KTD) Bowling Tournament has taken place, the event has grown to include three rounds of bowling and this year included 240 bowlers filling 48 teams.
“We had to turn teams away,” said Cindy DeGroot, who started the event five years ago and is the committee chair. “We have people here from Windom, Lakefield, Jackson…even Texas.”
The fifth annual tournament took place Saturday at Oxford Bowl.
Organizing the event is no small task, and KTD President Chris Heinrichs said DeGroot deserves major kudos for her hard work each year.
“Thank God she keeps doing it,” added KTD board member Chris Dybevick.
The three shifts of bowlers started hurtling balls at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., and as they showed up, Oxford Bowl filled to capacity. As the bowlers did their thing, there were three people who rushed around taking scores, pulling handicap records and keeping stats on the teams and players.
“We gave awards this year to these three long-standing volunteers,” Dybevick stated. “Curt Luing, Mona Persing and Marilyn Jueneman…they have helped all three years. Without them we couldn’t do this – they know what they are doing.”
According to Persing, the whole tournament is a very good time, even while she handled paperwork, score sheets and got in a round of bowling.
“Some are more serious than others about the bowling,” she laughed. “But to me it’s all fun.”
The first year, the committee had to go out and recruit teams, but after that, DeGroot said, they just sent out letters to the team captains. The original 32 teams expanded to 48, and occasionally there is talk of adding another shift or doing two tournaments a year.
“Not from me,” laughed Heinrichs. “But it is a great fundraiser. Outside of the actual King Turkey Day weekend, it is our biggest fundraiser. And that is all because of Cindy.”
Cory Thamm, president of the Cuero, Texas KTD board, was one of the bowlers, along with fellow Texan and rookie board member Eric McCowen.
“We just came to see out friends and to see some snow,” McCowen said.
“It just worked out that this was the weekend of the tournament,” Thamm added. “Destiny wanted us to bowl.”
Spending a few days in Minnesota outside of KTD gave the two men a chance to visit and discuss the festival, which will help them prepare for when the Minnesota delegation heads to Texas.
But spending some time throwing snowballs and being pulled across the lake on a sled was an added bonus.
“You should have seen us flying across that lake all ‘Yeehaw!’” McCowen laughed.
They did have one other big purpose to joining in on the bowling fun, they admitted.
“We are the comic attraction,” McCowen stated. “I think they’re going to let us bowl with both hands.”
Tags: news, worthington, kingturkeyday, bowling
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