WORTHINGTON - It appeared for a while Friday that the King Turkey Day “Arrest a Guest” tradition would not be a part of the 2015 festivities.
Erika Tuttle and Ric Ryan saved the day.
Tuttle and Ryan, both of Omaha, Neb., were “arrested” Friday night by Worthington Police Department Sgt. Josh McCuen upon their arrival in town.
Their sentence, like many others before them each year: a weekend in Worthington as special King Turkey Day guests.
“We were already coming here for Turkey Day,” Tuttle explained Saturday afternoon. “Let’s drop Roger Lester’s name - I’ve been working with him for 15 years and never met him. He kept telling me to come up and here and watch these turkeys race, but I’d kept blowing him off. I told him this year, though, was for real.”
Tuttle and Ryan were en route to Worthington when they received a call from Lester.
“He was being kind of cryptic,” Tuttle said. “Then, when we got here... the cops pulled us over and asked us to exit the vehicle. At that point, Roger came out of the police car along with town folk.”
Tuttle works for Stryker Orthopedics in Omaha, and Lester is connected to her through his employment with Sanford Health. Ryan, for his part, is general manager of Xtreme Used Cars in Omaha.
Tuttle and Ryan received accommodations at Worthington’s AmericInn and participated in Saturday’s mayor’s brunch (at which they received some door prizes), had a spot on a Grand Parade float and enjoyed a tour of the community, among other activities.
“It’s a great festival and a great town,” Tuttle said.
“This is great, and we’ve been to a lot of these (community festivals),” Ryan agreed. “We were just at Hoo-Doo Days (in Neola, Iowa) last weekend, and this tops that.”
