Hamilton is getting ready to send a flock of rubber turkeys plummeting from the top of a fire truck ladder, reviving the city's nod to the infamous WKRP in Cincinnati turkey-drop gag for a cause that actually puts food on the table. The event is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25 — Thanksgiving eve — between Municipal Brew Works and the Casual Pint on Riverfront Plaza, spilling into an adjacent parking lot.
This year's drop, now in its fourth year, is teaming up with WKRP radio for the promotion, according to WKRC. Unlike the television show's infamous live-bird disaster, the Hamilton recreation will involve miniature rubber turkeys dropped from the top of a fire truck ladder, not live birds, as wvxu.org reports. The Hamilton Fire Department is expected to drop all 3,000 of the small rubber birds from the ladder.
Listeners will be told how they can purchase a $10 rubber turkey ahead of the drop, per the same wvxu.org report. There's also a contest angle built into the stunt: whichever turkey lands closest to a designated target wins its buyer a prize.
Where the Money Goes
Every dollar of net proceeds from the turkey sales, plus sales of commemorative T-shirts, is slated to support Butler County's Open Door Food Pantry, according to the station's report. The pantry describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has served hungry families and individuals in the Butler County area since 1981, per its own account on opendoorfoodpantry.org. The organization says it aims to provide clients with a three- to five-day emergency supply of food.
A Tradition Rooted in a Classic TV Gag
Hamilton's turkey drop has leaned on the WKRP bit before. A previous version of the event recreated the scene with rubber ducks dressed as turkeys, dropped from a Hamilton Fire Department ladder truck, according to a report from wcpo.com. Those ducks also sold for $10 apiece, with half the proceeds benefiting the Butler County Veterans Memorial and the other half going to whoever's duck landed closest to the target, wcpo.com reported. Demand was fierce: both participating businesses sold out of rubber ducks within 24 hours, and the promotion included a $600 split-the-pot grand prize.
This year's drop swaps the veterans memorial beneficiary for the food pantry, but the underlying formula — a goofy homage to a sitcom catastrophe turned into a genuine fundraiser — remains intact. With Thanksgiving eve as the backdrop, organizers are betting that nostalgia for the show's infamous line and a fun night out on Riverfront Plaza will once again translate into real dollars for families who need it.
