Posted on 10/08/2002 12:12:43 PM PDT by Cagey
What started as a department store promotion ended in a wild dash for cash in Sharon, Pa., over the weekend.
Coupons and $1,000 in $2 bills were dropped from the top of the four-story Winner department store.
Other people jumped into the Shenango River to try to swim for the money. Store owner James Winner said he had no idea things would get so wild.
Winner said he has scrapped plans for future money drops.
It was live turkeys...best line of the show was the station manager saying "as God as my witness...I thought turkeys could fly."
Dean Carlton is always up for a little fun and Thanksgiving Day was no exception.
Last year Carlton and fellow pilot Hank Norris inadvertently began a new holiday event in their home town of Danville, Illinois, located on the Indiana line, 136 miles south of Chicago. Last year's event got off the ground around 7:30 a.m. near Danville Stadium, which was the site of scenes from John Goodman's "The Babe" several years ago.
The duo and their passengers made a pristine flight across the Midwestern town of 33,000 that is also the home of the Oldsmobile Balloon Classic Illinois, waving to whoever they saw and making strange turkey gobble noises. Most people were busy watching the Macy's parade or preparing a real turkey, but the hot air balloonists and their crews were on a mission.
"To have the most fun possible," Carlton said, which is his standard goal with his hobby.
One of the baskets was carrying a rubber chicken and Carlton decided to grace the Dr. Daniel Dethmers family with a gift from above.
"Well, they were all outside in the freezing cold in their pajamas and hooting and hollering at us. Who could resist?" Carlton recalled.
From that flight and talk at a post-flight breakfast at a local restaurant, a tradition has begunThe Les Nessman Memorial Turkey Drop.
The name, though unofficial, comes from an episode of the TV sitcom "WKRP." The station manager had arranged a promotion at a local grocery store that featured turkeys dropped from a helicopter. The newsman, Nessman, described the event live on the radio show as the turkey plummeted to earth.
The last line of the show by the station manager was "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
This Thanksgiving morning, eight pilots and crews from Danville, Bismarck, Champaign and Urbana met at 6:30 a.m. in a parking lot. The pilots, all members of the Balloon Association of Greater Illinois, were ready to compete.
Carlton and Norris had planned ground and air activities, but the flight was canceled due to wind speed. Not to be daunted, the group headed for land owned by a one of the crew members and a group picture with baskets and burners aflame was taken with the help a bucket truck.
The group posed, then poised to make their turkey, er chicken drops.
Though the pilots would not have the privilege of a declared goal and maneuver their balloon to the target area, Norris rolled out the regulation X and pilots warmed up their tossing arms.
No easy task this one though.
The target was an extra balloon basket and designated tossers stood on a bale of straw (Turkey in the Straw, get it!) and prepared to see who could get closest to the mark. Officials were on hand to measure distances and two pilots were able to arch their birds into the target area.
Officials also judged the official "gobbler," a crew member charged with making turkey sounds as the turkeys sailed toward the target. These were not just naked chickens either.
The pilot's had already accepted the challenge of "dressing" their "turkeys" at an association meeting earlier in the month. With the likes of Monica Lewturkey, comments were heard like "Have you noticed the turkeys are pretty much scantily clad females?"
Pilots and crew adjourned to, what else, a champagne brunch to top off the morning and everyone vowed to be back next year.
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