Chilly weather doesn't slow families from potluck and Turkey Bowling in Malta

Turkeys were flying through the air at Malta High School on Thursday night as the 11th Annual Turkey Bowling Family Fun Night was once again hosted by the Phillips County Coalition for Healthy Choices and the Malta Boys & Girls Club.

Following a potluck meal in the school's cafeteria, 84 children, teens and adults bowled turkeys against one another in the upper north balcony of the Malta High School Gymnasium.

Justine Lamb, a fifth grader student, said that she was attending her third turkey bowling contest and her strategy this year was to throw hard.

"And I got a strike," she said. "I'm really happy and proud that I did that. That was my first strike ever."

Samantha Biddix, who has been turkey bowling for the last six years, got her first strike ever on Thursday night.

"I'm bigger and stronger now," Biddix said of her success on the night. "I just threw it hard."

Though Biddix found success on her first throw of the night, she said she felt that Lamb would most likely win her age bracket.

Kanyon Stiles, a fifth grade student, was at only his second Turkey Bowling event and he felt that his skills where up to par.

"I had three throws and knocked down nine pins," Stiles said. "I got them almost all down on the first throw, missed them all on the second and on the third I ticked one, but it didn't fall down."

Stiles also thought that Lamb would win the age bracket and added that next year he would try to emulate how she threw her turkey.

Eion Estill, a fifth grader, knocked down eight of ten pins on his three throws, but added that he didn't see much hope of winning the night's event.

"I just didn't knock enough down," he said. Estill admitted that he was looking forward to winning a turkey because he wanted to eat it adding that his favorite part of the bird is "all of it" with a side of "everything" and some pumpkin pie.

Leslie Young, a sixth grader, was the first to attempt the turkey throw and she said her only strategy was to bowl a strike.

"It didn't go well," she admitted. "The first throw I got four, the second I got one and on the last I got none. I thought I would do better, but I still had fun."

Top bowlers winning a turkey for their family's Thanksgiving dinner were: Regan Stuart in the Pre-K to 1st grade category; Samme Gibbs in the 2nd-3rd grade bracket; Samantha Biddix (proving her own prediction wrong) in the 4th-5th-6th grade group; Kendall Moore for the 7th-12th grade category and Sean Estill was the winner in the adult category.

Congratulations go out to all the winners and a big thank you to the Malta Public Schools for the use of their facility for this annual family event, and to all of the businesses who sponsored the turkey prizes.