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 59th.
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