'Oh the humanity!' Warrensburg Corn Festival hosts turkey drop ahead of Thanksgiving

WARRENSBURG — As the turkeys hit the ground like sacks of wet cement, Warrensburg resident Christine Hoffman howled "oh the humanity!"

The reference was clear to anyone who remembers "perhaps the greatest turkey event in Thanksgiving Day history." That would be when "WKRP in Cincinnati" bombed the Pinedale Shopping Mall with live turkeys in 1978.

It is considered one of the greatest episodes of television in history and has become a cult classic, especially when Thanksgiving approaches every year.

On Wednesday evening, organizers of the Warrensburg Corn Festival sought to answer the question of "do turkeys fly?" themselves by hosting their first annual turkey drop at the Lyle Jones Community Stage.

Of course, the event origin came from the television show, said organizer Tim Hoffman. But, the group has done similar events in the past to raise money for the corn festival, which takes place during the decided warmer month of July.

"We have done golf ball drops in the past as fundraisers, and we thought this year that we would come up with a fundraiser not only for the corn festival, but we also wanted to be able to give back to the community as well in a fundraiser," Hoffman said. 

"So we thought, well, what else could we drop? And came up with this idea kind of from WKRP," Hoffman added. 

Of course, no live turkeys were harmed in the making of this event. Organizers purchased mini rubber turkeys online and then sold them for $20 apiece. 

In addition to raising funds for the corn festival, $5 of each rubber turkey sold went towards Vinnie's Helping Hands, a charitable organization run by Decatur's Vinnie Barbee.

Barbee and his wife, Debbie, have been serving Thanksgiving meals to the region's homeless population at Water Street Mission for the past 23 years.

With 193 rubber turkeys sold, the event helped raise $965 for the effort. 

"I don't live here," Barbee said of Warrensburg. "But I don't mind helping anybody, and that's what I've been doing."

As the moment drew closer, the rubber turkeys were all gathered in a container and placed in the basket of a Warrensburg Tree Care boom truck.

The basket then lifted into the dark sky, surrounded by a wet, pelting rain that kept away most spectators beyond a handful of organizers and their families.

Less than a minute later, the turkey drop began. They crashed to the earth right before everyone's eyes. Then, when the sky cleared of turkeys, the measuring tapes came out.

The person whose rubber turkey landed closest to the red flag in the middle of the field received a $1,000 prize. Second place received $750 and third place $250. The farthest from the flag received a frozen turkey. The winners were Terri Braden, Evan Hall and John and Mendie Larry, respectively.

Hoffman said that despite not selling all 500 rubber turkeys, they were going to honor the winning prizes. 

He said that he expects the turkey drop to become a regular event and that could be even bigger in future iterations. 

"We were not able to get a helicopter this year," Hoffman said. "Maybe down the road."

God as their witness, they thought turkeys could fly.