Color run to kick off busy Saturday in Frazee

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

As the summer heats up the Frazee area will be heading “Under the Sea in 2023” for the 69th annual Turkey Days celebration. While the event will feature a number of classics like the car show, queen pageant and demolition derby, there will be several new events and new twists this year as well. 

Turkey Days will kick off in earnest on Thursday when the opening ceremony is held at 5:30 p.m. at the Little Turkey Park on Main Street. Events on Thursday night will also include designer purse bingo at the event center and a kick off party at the Frazee VFW from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m.

On Friday, Turkey Days will head to the beach for the sand castle contest at 2 p.m., while the variety show will get underway at the Frazee High School main gym at 4:30 p.m. The day will also include a flower show from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Harvest Fellowship Church will host family night beginning at 6 p.m., which will also include a tie dye booth as well. Puzzles will once again be a popular addition to Turkey Days as the pitchers, pizza and puzzles event will be held at 6 p.m. at the Frazee VFW. As part of the event, teams of four will eat a pizza, drink a pitcher of beer and put together a puzzle in a race for supremacy. 

At 7 p.m. the CornerStone will host a non-alcoholic version of the event as they host pizza, pop and puzzles at the facility. 

Friday will come to a conclusion with a street dance at the liquor store parking lot featuring the band Retrolution from 7-11 p.m. 

There will not be a shortage of events on Saturday as the biscuits and gravy breakfast will be held at the event center from 7:30-10:30 a.m. and the kids fishing contest will be held from 8-9 a.m. at Town Lake. 

The Dolores Smith Memorial Turkey Trot will feature a color run beginning at 9:15 a.m. at the softball field. Registration for the color run, in which participants will be dashed with powdered color throughout the run, will begin at 8 a.m. Participants are asked to wear white for the run.

The street fair will get underway at 8 a.m., while the junior king and queen contest will be held at 10 a.m. at the high school. The scavenger hunt will be held at the CornerStone at 10 a.m. and the Tyler Shipman Memorial Car Show will feature a unique collection of classic cars, trucks and more from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in downtown Frazee. 

A bean bag tournament and road rally will get the noon hour underway. The Road Rally will feature the theme “Under the Sea in Frazee” and will start at the Frazee Essentia Clinic parking lot at 12 p.m. Road Rally participants will gain extra points for starting the rally with costumes and car designs that are related to the theme. 

Also beginning at 12 p.m. will be turkey bowling and the soap box derby, while the frozen t-shirt contest will follow at 12:30 p.m.

The 25th anniversary celebration of the fire at the Big Tom Turkey in Frazee will be held beginning at 1 p.m. at Lions Park by the Big Tom. In 1998 the big turkey was destroyed in a fire that resulted in its destruction and eventual reconstruction at the Lions Park on the outskirts of Frazee. That fire will be commemorated on Saturday. 

The kids pedal tractor pull will be held on Main Ave. beginning at 1:30 p.m. while the annual turkey drop will be held near Ketters at 3:30 p.m.

With temperatures expected to be warm throughout the weekend, participants can have an opportunity to cool off a bit at the water fights at the Frazee Fire Hall beginning at 4 p.m. 

Other events on Saturday include the button drawing, salad luncheon beginning at 11 a.m. at the event center, turkey bingo from 1-4 p.m., a book walk beginning at 12:45 p.m., spaghetti supper at 4:30 p.m. at the event center and a line dance class at 8:15 p.m. at the United Community Bank parking lot. 

The busy day will come to a close as Miss Frazee Marcella George and Miss Frazee Outstanding Teen Katie Courneya will pass their crown and sash on to the new 2023 Turkey Days royalty. The Miss Frazee and Miss Teen Pageant will be held at 7 p.m. at the high school gym. A total of four people will be competing for the two prestigious titles. 

A street dance featuring the Fat Cats will be held from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. at the VFW, while fireworks will be lighting up the sky above Frazee at the football field at approximately 10 p.m.

Turkey Days will come to a close on Sunday as a chalk art contest gets underway at 8:30 a.m. in downtown Frazee. CornerStone will be serving crepes at 8:30 a.m. and the tractor show will get underway on 2nd Street beginning at 9 a.m. 

Harvest Fellowship Church will be hosting a community outdoor worship, which will be held inside Harvest Fellowship Church in the event of inclement weather, at 10 a.m. 

A turkey luncheon will be served from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the event center, while the pet and doll parade will hear down Main Ave. beginning at 1:15 p.m. The line up for the pet and doll parade will be held at the Frazee Fire Hall beginning at 12:45 p.m.

Following the pet and doll parade, grand marshal Ken Miosek, will help to lead the Turkey Days Parade down Main Ave. beginning at 2 p.m. The line up will be at the Frazee School practice football field. Following the parade an ice cream desert social will be held at the event center and the demolition derby will get underway at 3:30 p.m. 

The busy weekend will wrap up on Sunday night with karaoke at the VFW from 6-10 p.m. 

Other events throughout the weekend will include the Mystery Gobbler, food court, Turkey Golf Scramble at the Frazee Golf Course and beer gardens at the VFW. 

For a complete list of events for Turkey Days, check out the schedule on pages 6-7 in this week’s issue of the Frazee-Vergas Forum.