WORTHINGTON -- Local citizens can get into the spirit of King Turkey Day button a bit earlier this year by purchasing and wearing a King Turkey Day button.
Buttons are usually available a couple weeks before the celebration, which is set for Sept. 19, but the King Turkey Day Board of Directors made a point of getting the keepsakes -- and the accompanying coupon books -- out early this year.
"We'd like to get them out as early as we can so people can use the coupon books," explained Vida Iten, KTD vice president. "A lot of the coupons expire at the end of September, so we'd like to give people more time to use them."
The button design is based on the 2009 KTD theme, "The Bird Is the Word" and was created by Brad Behrends, a local graphic designer and sign maker by trade. Behrends also designed the 2005 KTD button, as well as the KTD logo.
Done up in autumn colors of tan, brown and burgundy, the button naturally features a drawing of "The Bird" -- Worthington's own racing turkey, Paycheck. Initially Behrends considered using the same turkey image as in 2005, but then decided he wanted to try something different.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I looked for cartoons of turkeys on the Internet, found one that was close to what I was looking for and redrew it," Behrends explained. "The lettering is a font that I had bought for my own business card -- I had just designed my business card before doing this -- so they look freakishly the same."
Behrends' new rendering has Paycheck holding up his index "feather," proclaiming that he's No. 1 in the turkey racing world, and wearing a T-shirt with the KTD crown logo on the front.
"I wanted to get the logo in there somewhere," Behrends noted.
For a $5 donation, the KTD buttons are available at local retailers that sponsored a coupon in the book, the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce Office, Worthington City Hall and local financial institutions. The coupon book features deals at more than 50 area businesses.
The buttons provide the wearer entry into the KTD Mixer event -- and a free meal -- on Sept. 17 at Worthington's Pioneer Village, but they also serve another purpose, according to Iten.
"They are one of the main fundraisers for King Turkey Day," she said, "and a way that people can show their support for our community celebration. The buttons are a very important part of King Turkey Day."
A modified version of the button design will be imprinted on T-shirts, both long- and short-sleeve versions in black and tan, that should be available in a couple of weeks at the Chamber office.
ADVERTISEMENT
