The Turkey Throwdown ruffled feathers at KSU

Turkeys are good for more than the Thanksgiving Day dinner table. Members of the undergraduate student government at Kent State Tuscarawas used them to raise money at the Turkey Throwdown on Nov. 21.

The event was held in the Founder’s Hall Student Union with participants winging the frozen birds toward giant inflatable bowling pins. Participants paid $2 per throw to play, and the USG also accepted donations.

Kayla Dyer of New Philadelphia, USG president, and Callee Barker of New Philadelphia, USG vice president, organized the event.

They wanted to hold another Turkey Throwdown event this year after the success of last year’s event.

“We raised over $1,250 last year through the Turkey Throwdown. So we were excited to do it again this year,” Dyer said. “Last year we donated to the food pantry of Dover and New Philly. We were able to donate $500 to them, and then we did ten $75 gift cards to students on financial aid so they were able to afford Thanksgiving meals.”

All 2023 proceeds will go to funds created for the Tusky Valley and Carrollton victims.

Anyone at the university was eligible to participate. Faculty and staff members were competing for lunch with the dean and a 3-D printed turkey trophy. In addition to the turkey trophy, the winning student received a gift card to the bookstore on the campus and a free Kent State T-shirt.

In the past two years, the group had about 150 students, faculty and staff participate in the event.

Dyer and Barker were the first two people to become involved in restoring the undergraduate student government after it was disbanded during COVID-19. Both worked in the admissions office when they were asked by Dean Brad Bielski if they would like to be involved.

“We’ve been doing a whole bunch of different fundraisers and stuff over the last few years,” Dyer said. “We’ve had therapy dogs on campus to help our students during finals week since it’s very stressful for our students.”

They also have done iced coffee bars and hot chocolate bars.

“We try to have as many events as we can on campus, get people to come out and just have fun. We do different things for the students and try to raise money for our community, which is great,” Barker said.

Upcoming events include a hot chocolate bar during finals week in December. They also are in the process of planning a bingo night in the spring.

“We are thankful for our students, faculty and staff that always come out and participate. And we’re super thankful for the community that we have here at Kent State University at Tuscarawas,” Dyer said.

The group also teamed up with the admissions office in October for trunk or treat.

“We had about 250 people come to our trunk or treat. We had the police department; they decorated a vehicle. And we had a whole bunch of different things over in the performing arts center,” Dyer said.

All USG activities are held in the fall and spring semesters. Full-time students at the campus are eligible to join the group.

“We’ve tried to keep everything during the day so that students are on campus and they don’t have to drive elsewhere to participate in our events,” Dyer said. “We do get a lot more of a turnout when it’s going to be during school hours on campus, but for our trunk or treat, it was after hours from 6-8 p.m. and we had a great turnout from the community there.”

Full-time students on campus are welcome to join the student government group.

“This student government is probably one of the more active that has been in place since I’ve been here, which is 10 years now. They really take community engagement service seriously,” Bielski said.

Bielski said other student organizations up and running again include an English club and theater club, and others are working to form an arts club on campus.

“It’s really nice to see that kind of activity. Individuals bring that forward, but student government is responsible for that as well,” Bielski said.