Orland Park’s Turkey Shoot Free Throw Contest on Sunday proved a gobblin’ good time for all.
Dozens of kids, parents and grandparents flocked to the Orland Park Sportsplex, 11351 W. 159th St., for the annual “fowl” shooting event, in which parent-child pairs competed for the chance to take home a Thanksgiving turkey.
“Anybody that wants to come out, if you’re 1 or 99, you can come out here, have a good time and hang out with family,” said Jack Savage, Orland Park’s athletics supervisor.
Village facilities director Kurt Heinlen, who conceived of the competition some 15 years ago, highlighted its affordability — the entrance fee was $2 for Sportsplex members, $4 for residents and $6 for non-residents.
“It’s a good little event,” he said.
The casual competition opened with a brief announcement about the rules — kids got 10 free throw shots, adults got 10 shots, and the highest combined-scoring team in each age bracket won a turkey — and ended about 90 minutes later with the presentation of turkeys to each of the five sharpshooters, along with a number of other prize giveaways.
Kristin Kobel, 7, of Orland Park, bagged one of the birds with an impressive shooting display.
The event has become something of a family tradition for the Kobels, in which the family’s four kids all have competed and won turkeys over the years, parents Brian and Jennifer Kobel said.
Dressed head to toe in pink on Sunday, Kristin nonchalantly nailed shot after shot to build on the Kobel clan’s impressive Turkey Shoot legacy.
But the day’s big winners were the Highfills of Orland Park, whose boys Ethan, 11, and Noah, 9, each won a bird for stuffing the baskets in their respective age bracket.
“It was fantastic,” their father and shooting partner Matt Highfill said of the event. “We weren’t planning on winning.”
The family, which already had bought two turkeys for its large Thanksgiving gathering on Thursday, will likely hold onto the birds until Christmas, he said.
“Turkey all year,” Highfill joked when asked what he’d do with his family’s twin poultry prizes.
Ethan wasn’t quite as sanguine about reaping the fruits of his free throw shooting, however.
“I’m not a fan of turkey,” he said.
Twitter @ZakKoeske
