2017 Miss Tremont Allie Ramlo, 17, heaves a frozen 14-pound Butterball turkey at the Tremont Turkey Festival June 10. The festival’s annual turkey tossing contest is open to all ages; the adult category winner took home $50, youths 12 and under won tickets. Ramlo tossed the turkey 47 feet and 10 inches. (Photo by Holly Eitenmiller / for Chronicle Media)

It was almost noon when Allie Remlo, Miss Tremont 2017, strolled to home plate, tiara glinting in the June sun, and gave the outfield a steely glare. With a 14-pound frozen Butterball turkey in hand, Remlo hurled the bird 47 feet for personal best in the annual Tremont Turkey Toss.

More than 1,600 turkeys were roasted, fried and thrown at this year’s Tremont Turkey Festival; not a paltry poultry count for the four-day festival known for serving up tasty turkey.

It’s a tradition that began in 1962 at the village’s inaugural festival, when “Turks” served a simple classic turkey dinner.

In the 51 years since, Tremont fair fare has evolved into turkey dogs, sandwiches, legs, drumsticks, livers and gizzards; fried, grilled, roasted — the latter being the latest addition to the festival’s repertoire.

“We’re really thrilled about the addition of the rotisseries this year,” festival chairperson Michele Gareysaid. “We did a lot of research, went to the Iowa State Fair where they have them and visited the company.”

At $25,000 each, the Holstein, Inc. customized propane-fueled turkey turners hold 90 birds each. Tremont Betterment Association, which manages festival funds, replaced 42 aging turkey ovens with the new equipment, Garey said.

The turkeys, which are first injected with homemade barbecue-flavored butter, take three hours to roast. “Turkey Master” Mike Moser and his team served 640 birds Friday, 740 the next and 300 on closing day.

“Last year, we realized we had all these extra parts so we started serving livers, gizzards and hearts and you wouldn’t believe the number of people who came out just for them,” Garey said. “This year we have the injected rotisserie turkey and everyone loves it.”

“Turkey Master” Jack Moser manned the festival’s two new turkey rotisseries at the Tremont Turkey Festival June 8-11. The Tremont Betterment Association invested $50,000 to replace the festival’s 42 turkey ovens with the Holstein Mfg. rotisseries. The propane-fueled ovens each hold 90 turkeys each, and Moser said more than 1,500 birds were injected, roasted and served during the festival.  (Photo by Holly Eitenmiller / for Chronicle Media)
 

Turkey gobblers paid $3 for a burger, $4 for a leg, or two “drummies”, and $5 for a sandwich. The dollars add up. Since its inception, Tremont’s turkey festival has returned more than $1.5 million back to the village of 2,210 residents.

“The Tremont Betterment Association was formed in 1976 and they really help put the money back into the community,” Garey said. “They are the guiding committee that oversees the festival funds and they do wonderful work.”

Of the $40,000 earned from last year’s festival, only $2,000 was funneled to an outside organization; Peoria Honor Flight, an organization that provides day-trips for veterans to fly to war memorials in Washington, D.C. The remainder was divvied up between Tremont scouting troops, emergency and senior services, the pool and library and a few other groups.

Not all of the financial stuffing came from turkeys. The festival committee also hosts a traditional midway with games and rides, while vendors of all sorts of goods occupy a large swath of park space. But it’s the turkeys that give Tremont its unique brand.

Of the 1,682 turkeys that met their demise this year, 1,680 were plated and served. The two sorry Butterballs that landed repeatedly in the infield dirt of the baseball diamond were tossed in the trash.

— Annual Turkey Festival raises funds for Tremont community —