Lions Club Turkey Carnival fun for the whole family

For the past 70 years, the Odessa Lions Club has been treating the community to its annual Turkey Carnival. This year, club members added a little extra atmosphere with the presence of two live turkeys, one male and one female, in a pen near the bingo announcer’s table. The turkeys belong to the Joe McNeil family, which raises poultry on its farm near Odessa. They were only there for show, however, and went back home after the carnival.

More than 150 frozen turkeys were won last Saturday during turkey bingo that lasted from 2 to about 8:30 p.m., with various club members taking turns calling the numbers. All afternoon and into the evening until about 7 p.m., youngsters from Odessa High School operated games of chance for younger children, such as giant-pin bowling and balloon darts.

The children won tickets at the games which could be traded in for toys at a separate table manned by Kira Powell. Daniel Nelson had never seen a kazoo before, so Deanna Nelson (no relation) tried to explain to him how it worked as Ben Melgren looked on (see center photo at right).

Sales of burgers, hot dogs, natchos, sodas and pie began at noon, with club members doing the cooking and serving. While some of the crew cooked and served, others got the bingo tables and dining tables set up for the many visitors to come.

During the evening shift, the bingo numbers were called by Mark Barglof, while Todd Iverson entered the numbers on the reader board.

Once all the turkeys were gone, Clark Kagele took over the announcing duties as raffle tickets were drawn for the items donated by businesses, individuals and community groups. He was helped by young Tucker Walter and Kassidy Crossley, who reached into the tub holding the approximately 3,000 tickets sold. Brenick Iverson was charged with writing down the names of the winners as they were drawn.

Another way to win involved buying paddles, each with a number written on it. The game operator would then spin a large wheel with the same numbers written on it, and when the wheel stopped, the winning number meant a prize for the holder of that paddle. Sometimes the prize was a turkey, sometimes a pie or package of soda.

The top raffle prize of a $500 gift certificate to any business in Odessa was won by Doug Hemmerling, who runs the dairy located a few miles east of Odessa. He also won a smaller prize later on. There were also several other multiple winners. Even those who left empty-handed had a good time.