Bring the turkey back! (Letter to N-R, June 29, 2018)

Bring the turkey back!

Letters to the Editor: June 29, 2018, McMinnville News-Register/N-R

Last week, I read in the News-Register that there will be NO turkey sides or BBQ for Turkey Rama this year.

My heart sank. There is NO Turkey Rama without turkey!

Our family has looked forward to the BBQ every year since 1974. I know many more citizens of McMinnville and Yamhill County have been here more years than us, and looked forward to the turkey, too.

I am so disappointed. When I told my children and grandchildren there will only be turkey legs available, they were also disappointed.

Please bring back the turkeys!

Claudia Spawn
McMinnville

Turkey Rama 2018 Special Burrito

A McMinnville business into the spirit of Turkey Rama 2018, although would assume meat for burrito is not turkey! :) Coupon from Summer 2018 ShopLocal McMinnville magazine.

Before Alf’s there was Belveal’s, before that Trill’s

Ad, 5/16/1965 Sheridan, Oregon, Sun 

If you attended Linfield you may have had a meal or two at 1250 S Baker, also known as 1250 SW Baker.

Address not ring a bell? It’s a restaurant on 99W. To get there is an easy walk from campus. And, the answer is:

--Trill’s Ice Cream.

--Belveal’s Ice Cream.

--Alf’s Ice Cream & Burgers.

All three are correct. It depends on when you were a Linfield student.

In 1934 Trill’s went into business, says the 1984 McMinnville News-Register/N-R. No restaurant. 

A story in the June 26, 2018, N-R about a McMinnville High School Class of 1958 reunion quotes a class member who worked "scooping up 32 flavors of ice cream at Trill’s, the forerunner of Alf’s" during her junior and senior years, that would be fall 1956 to spring 1958.

Listing, 1956 Yamhill County City Directory.

Listing (see photo) for Trill's Ice Cream at 1250 S. Baker, phone number 1-0491, McMinnville, is included in the 1956 Yamhill County City Directory. 

The Feb. 28, 1958, Oregonian mentions that Mrs. Audrey Trill of McMinnville is vice president of the Northwest Retail Ice Cream Manufacturers Assn. 

Later, maybe in late 1950s or early 1960s, Lawrence & Audrey Trill sold and it became Belveal’s. Restaurant added.
In 1962 Albert Alfred “Pat” Alf Jr. and his wife, Grace, moved to McMinnville after buying Belveal’s and changed the business name. 

Ad, 1969 Linfield Oak Leaves yearbook.

After owning/operating Alf’s for many years, the Alfs sold in 1984.
Serving Linfield students must have been a highlight for the Alfs, now both deceased. But, a story in the Aug. 27, 1984, N-R quotes Pat as saying Alf’s being featured in the 1983 movie “Quarterback Princess” and on the KATU-TV Portland program “Faces and Places” were his most exciting memories while running Alf’s.

The movie stars Helen Hunt as a Canadian teenager living in McMinnville. She causes a stir when trying out for the McMinnville High football team. Actor Tim Robbins played Marvin Blaylock, one of her teammates.

An online site says the movie was “filmed (in 1982) primarily in McMinnville, Oregon. Because of legal issues, various signs were modified to say ‘Minnville.’ ”

POSTSCRIPTS:

-- Among firms responding to a vocational survey mailed July 1, 1964, was Belveal's Ice Cream of McMinnville. Perhaps those mailing the survey didn’t know Belveal’s had sold to the Alfs. And, perhaps the Alfs responded, not indicating on the survey that ownership and name of the business had changed?

-- Speaking of ice cream, the March 26, 1926, Oregonian newspaper mentions Kimball's Ice Cream of McMinnville. The May 25, 1958, edition of the same newspaper has a classified ad about McMinnville's Speed Freeze Drive-In being for sale.

McMINNVILLE: IT STARTED IN 1938, IN 1961 (1960?) IT BECAME 'TURKEY RAMA'

Turkey Rama 2018 in McMinnville, which will be held July 13-14, is being billed in its 58th year.

When viewed on 6/25/2018 the online Oregon Encyclopedia, a project of the Oregon Historical Society, said, in 1961 the name Turkey Rama was adopted" for the event which started in 1938 as the Pacific Coast Turkey Exhibit in McMinnville.

Add 58 years to the year 1961 and you get the year 2019.

However, a June 28, 1983, Oregonian story with a McMinnville dateline by Jo McIntyre, a correspondent for the newspaper, said Turkey Rama, a "community extravaganza," came from "relatively small beginnings in 1960."

If 1960, instead of 1961, was the first year of Turkey Rama, the 2018 event will be its 59^th.

Add 59 years to the year 1960 and you get the year 2019.

The Oregon Encyclopedia says, "Perhaps Turkey Rama’s best known event is the turkey barbecue. In recent years, over 11,000 pounds of turkey are grilled and served during the festival, prompting promoters to bill the event the World’s Largest Turkey BBQ."

But, 2018 Turkey Rama, in its 58th (59th?) year, will not include its own barbecue. You'll be able to buy turkey to eat at a meal in downtown McMinnville. But, if so, what you eat there will not be part of the World's Largest Turkey BBQ because there will be no BBQ.

=McMinnville has an "annual Turkey Rama which began in 1938 when the area was a heavy turkey producer; the festival continues despite the disappearance of turkey farms," says The Oregon Companion: An Historical Gazetteer of the Useful, the Curious and the Arcane (2009) by Richard H. Engema.

=The Turkey: An American Story (2006) by Andrew F. Smith says in 1938 McMinnville citizens "launched Turkey Rama, which featured a turkey barbecue and turkey races."

= In 1963, the Oregonian said the 1963 Turkey Rama was its "third annual."

= In 1982, the Oregonian called Turkey Rama "one of the biggest and oldest community festivals in Yamhill County."

Color photos taken by Mac News on 6/26/2018

IS TURKEY RAMA 2018 GIVING A COLD SHOULDER TO TURKEY?

In 2017, the McMinnville Chamber of Commerce promoted Turkey Rama as “one of McMinnville's oldest and most loved traditions!"

In 2018, the Chamber website calls Turkey Rama, “Our Beloved Tradition.”

The July 4, 2017, print edition of the McMinnville N-R/News-Register broke the news that Turkey Rama’s signature event, the World’s Largest Turkey BBQ at Wortman Park, a “mouth-watering nod to the county’s former status as the state’s largest turkey producer” will “not offer sit-down meals this year. Organizers framed those as cost-cutting moves.”

In 2017, turkey was barbecued at Wortman, but “Sorry, no turkey meals this year,” said the Chamber.

The July 7, 2017, N-R online said, “While full meals will not be sold this year, barbecued turkey halves will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at $22 each. Sales will continue until 5 p.m. or until the supply runs out. In addition to Wortman Park, fully cooked turkey halves will be available at the McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce information booth on Third Street and the Bi-Mart and Town Center parking lots.”

That was then (2017), this is now (2018).

The Feb. 22, 2018, online N-R “Along the Street” column had a headline reading, “Turkey Rama, with all the trimmings.” Column said, “Plans also include the traditional Turkey BBQ…”

“Along the Street” June 21, 2018 in online N-R said, “The event has been scaled down and will not include the BBQ turkey event at Wortman Park. But BBQ turkey legs will be available downtown from one of the vendors, and most restaurants will feature a turkey special on their menu.”

So, bottom line, for the 58^th edition of Turkey Rama in 2018, one of McMinnville’s oldest, most loved and beloved traditions, will not include Turkey Rama organizers grilling turkey – grilling used to take place downtown and later moved to Wortman Park – selling turkey halves meals or turkey halves.

The World's Largest Turkey BBQ in McMinnville is no more.

Because “BBQ turkey legs will be available downtown from one of the vendors, and most restaurants will feature a turkey special on their menu” it’s not accurate to say Turkey Rama is going cold turkey on turkey to eat. But, it certainly seems Turkey Rama might be giving a cold shoulder to the bird.  

POSTSCRIPT

-First Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church and Cooperative Ministries (United Methodists and ELCA Lutheran) provided tables and chairs in the Turkey Rama 2018 downtown entertainment and food court areas. At 7 o’clock in the morning on July 13, 2018, volunteers from each respective entity transported six tables and 35 chairs to Davis & 3^rd Streets. At 9 p.m. July 14, 2018, the tables and chairs were fetched. 

Meal photo by Mac News. BBQ photo by McMinnville Newcomers Club.