CENTER – There was a slight chill in the air Saturday morning, as participants lined up excitedly, in front of the Center Viking Youth Club for its first-ever Turkey Trot on Nov. 23.  

The fundraiser for the club was open to the public and included the option to trot the 5K or to do half of that. The cost was $25 and included a T-shirt and a fun-filled pie eating contest after the race. People could pay $10 to participate in just the pie eating contest. 

Center Viking Youth Club Director Carmen Pavlovsky said, “We have never had a Turkey Trot in Center before, this is our first one. Every year we have an annual Thanksgiving dinner for the community, this year there was a benefit dinner that took place, this Turkey Trot will be in conjunction with that dinner. I think we have a really good turnout this morning. We have had 23 participants come and sign up.” 

Pavlovsky explained that all the funds that are being received from the trot will go right back to the Center Viking Youth Club. The club is trying to offset the loss of some grants. 

“The money will be going right back into the Center Viking Youth club for programming, and to help support staffing. We are always fundraising and looking for ways to help the club with money. One of our big grants, which was part of a COVID Relief Fund ended in September of this year, so we are trying to find more funding to keep us going because of that too,” she said. 

The trot began and finished at the club after it wound around Center Park. Both children and adults could be seen smiling, wearing their turkey trot shirts, and walking or jogging lightly during the trot. 

When all participants returned Pavlovsky and her staff brought out cherry, pumpkin, and other flavored pies and set them on the table for the pie eating contest. Everyone was giggling as the contest started and many kids could be seen taking their pies and folding them to look like tacos and taking large bites during the contest. Everyone was racing to eat their pies. The overall winner of the contest was Jose Lopez. 

Pavlovsky said, "The Center Viking Youth Club’s mission is to ensure that all children and youth especially those who need us most are offered opportunities to realize their full potential as responsible, caring, and productive, citizens of a richly diverse world. The Center Viking Youth Club operates five days a week and is open January through December. We provide programming for students K-12, and we serve over 600 youth and their family during the year.” 

For more information or to donate to the Center Viking Youth Club, visit the Center Viking Youth Club’s Facebook page. Pavlovsky said that donations to the club are appreciated.