Tremont Turkey Festival

If one wants to see the Village of Tremont work together to produce something bigger than themselves, one need only visit the Turkey Festival. Hundreds of volunteers pitch in to prepare and serve barbecued turkey and strawberry shortcake, while bed races, tractor pulls, turkey tossing, a beauty pageant, a parade, and many other activities keep folks entertained. The main Festival activities don't get into high gear until Friday afternoon, so Thursday night is "Buddy Night" on the rides where two can ride for the price of one, and the crowds are not yet overwhelming. We invited some friends to join us for our quota of thrill rides and carnival food.

This is the view of the carnival area from the Ferris wheel looking west. Not huge compared to theme parks, but the biggest thing to hit Tremont each summer.

Lily and Karen sixty feet above Tremont.

On to "Pharaoh's Fury" where Gretel and Karen can't resist screaming.

Karen and Lily are up on the top of this ride somewhere, but you can't see them from here.

Gretel on the big swings with her friend, Emma.

Believe it or not, that blur in the middle of the photo is Karen and Jessica on what appeared to be the fastest, most gut-scrambling ride of them all. The forces were so strong they pulled a 5" hat pin out of Karen's hair, allowing her hat to be pulled from her head. Amazingly, both items were recovered and no one was injured.

As if that weren't enough for Jessica's stomach, Gretel convinced her to ride on this contraption that appeared to be a human sized bread kneader.

The strongest stomachs in the bunch. Although both seemed to have their fill by the time the night was over.

What better way to end an evening of stomach turning than with a funnel cake. Karen had one bite, Jessica couldn't stand to be near it, and it was all Gretel, Lily, and I could do to consume the whole thing. If my health insurer knew I was eating that I'm sure they would have cancelled my policy.