If there’s one thing I can tell you about Serb Fest, it’s that tradition is king… and we’ve certainly established a tradition of building on the distinct soundtrack of Turkey Run! The first ever collection of tunes was assembled in conjunction with the release of 2004’s Fire & Ice Extravaganza, twenty years ago! After a few other collections of tunes were assembled, the very first official “Serb Fest Collection - Volume I” was released in 2008. Since then, every two years, a new volume has been introduced… and this year, we continue that tradition with the 8th volume in the collection! As always, we have a spirited and eclectic collection of tunes with equal parts grit and Central Indiana livin’, with a touch of Serbian heritage.  Happy listening!

Download the tracks HERE and add them to the mix for the drive to TR and your pre-TR prep festivities!

Well, she's done it again! Following up on her stellar TR2022 recap video, Eloise Berger came through with another amazing recap video for TR2023 and I'm pleased to share it with you all today! Let's all have one more look (you can obviously watch it several times...) beofre we ultimately look ahead to TR2024, just 5 very short days away! Who thought we'd have some T Swift creep into the TR soundtrack landscape?? Hey, the song matches the energy of the video... "New Romantics"... maybe a nod to the 'romance' policy at TR? The tune is from Swift's '1989' album... TR 1989 was the one and only year Serb Fest was NOT at Turkey Run.... These feel like TSwift-like easter eggs... :) Ziveli!

TR 2023 RECAP [Right click, save as] or tap to stream to your mobile devices

Horray! The first post that's on-time this season! The TR 2024 Shopping/Responsibility Checklist is now available, hopefully in plenty of time to get your shopping trips in at your convenience! Same general format, but please note that due to some developments with the attendance list, I've had to reassign some items to other families temporarily. These items are shown in bold and have NEW noted beside them.

If you haven't heard, Krangis and family are unable join us this year. Some reshuffling of their shopping responsibilities are reflected in the checklist. On the flipside, we're happy to welcome back the Koechlings for year 2! On year 2 you start to get some minor responsiblity, especially when some key attendees will be absent!

As always, note your $$ contributions requested for the DSD order. Venmo/Zelle info is on the checklist. THANK YOU!

Who could forget TR2023, especially being just one short year ago... For those of you who have the memory of a goldfish or just drink a bit too much on a daily basis, head over to the recap page and relive the magic that was 2023!

Friends - My deepest apologies for the lack of updates and usual hype that you're all accustomed to this time of year! Life has been a beast lately, preventing me from giving this the attention it deserves! Bur rest assured, I'm alive and well and TR 2024 will no doubt deliver in splendid fashion!

Some attendance updates. If anyone has not received the memo, Rishi is indeed set to make a return after a one year hiatus. The list of reasons to be excited for this is too extensive to list here, so we can all discuss in person over the sizzle of the grill Friday night! I'm also excited to welcome a new family, friends of Nutz and Amy from their neighborhood in Naperville. Mick and Joy will be attending with their two boys Max (11) and Gus (8). Amy (Lund) Yount and her husband Thomas will also be joining, but for an abbreviated visit - expecting a late Saturday arrival. While we'd love to have them the full weekend, at least it's more than the breif 'hello' we got last year! Either way, the efforts to show up are appreciated! And wow, there's sure to be a dogfight for Rookie of the Year honors!

The TR 2023 Shopping/Responsibility Checklist is now available, hopefully in plenty of time to get your shopping trips in at your convenience! Same general format, but please note that due to some developments with the attendance list, I've had to reassign some items to other families temporarily. These items are shown in bold and have NEW noted beside them.

DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE PDF

For those of you who don't know, Rishi will unfortunately be unable to join us this year, so fellow grillmasters will need to step it up! Perhaps this is an opportunity for someone else to earn their Grillmaster badge! Rishi will be greatly missed, but being the good human that he is, he's lending a very helpful set of hands to his family in NYC as they navigate a personal matter. Thankfully all is well, but I'll spare the details in this venue... We look forward to his return to TR in 2024!

On a positive note, OLAF and crew continue to be top notch in the recruiting department securing attendance of another new family, Bill & Erin Wagner, along with their two boys, Nathan (2nd Grade) and Tyler (4th Grade). The Mann's are also looking to bring another family - more to come there! I suspect there will be a great battle for Rookie of the Year honors!

Introducing a fun new way to recognize the good, the bad and the ugly at TR! We've had a long tradition of serving up a number of different Awards at TR - dating back to the inaugural Rookie of the Year award in 2003. However, there's so much more we can recognize each year that isn't captured by our annual award system... Now attendees can collect "badges" for a range of achievements from attendance milestones, to notable contributions to Serb Fest, to surviving near death experiences. In fact, it's Joe E's 3 (arguably 4) near death experiences in 2022 that inspired this "badge" idea! Now known as the "Triple Crown" of Serb Fest, Legend tells us that Joe's unnerving experience was shockingly not the first "Triple Crown" to be earned by a TR attendee. 23 years earlier, there were a different, but similarly dire series of events that nearly took the life of an attendee 3 (arguably 4) times in the weekend. We're handing out badges retroactively the best we can. What you see captured here on TR Online is a work-in-progress, so if you believe you (or your child) has earned any of these badges, please send Scott a note!

We're also totally open to ideas for more badges. There's no limit to how many we have, so bring your creativity and humor and we'll get added!

TR BADGES

This year we celebrate an amazing 20 YEARS of TR Online! In just it's second post back in 2003, it boasted,

TR Online will be the single greatest resource for Turkey Run attendees past, present, and future.

It's certainly lived up to that! Keep an eye out for some great updates to our Online presence this year, including introducing Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok accounts! Instagram went live this week with others to follow. Facebook has been an incredible companion to TR Online since early 2008. We hope these additional channels will continue to enhance your connection with our great tradition year round!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TR ONLINE!

The TR2022 Recap is up and we're officially looking ahead to TR2023 in just a few short months! As always, please confirm your attendance and if you're one of the few who can't make it in 2023 and currently have a room booked, please be sure to hold your room so we can get the rest of the group and new attendees covered! TR2023 will be another special year as we have a number of new anniversaries to celebrate. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months!

Prepare to be impressed! We have our first real contribution to the Legend of Serb Fest from a 3rd Generation attendee! Eloise Berger set out at the beginning of TR 2022 to capture footage from the kids' perspective and put together a video herself, following in the footsteps of her old man! Not only did she get it done in under a week, it's darn good! I'm so happy to add this to the collection of wonderful videos we have documenting our beloved Memorial Day weekend tradition! Check out the video HERE

Scott unveiled a long overdue tribute to Jovan at TR 2022, marking a somber, but spirited celebration of the 10 year anniversary of Jovan's final trip to TR. The flag will fly proudly below the Serbian Flag each year at Serb Fest. It features a sillouhette of Jovan from TR 2002, giving a blow to his bullhorn to signify the official start of the weekend's festivities. He's quoted, "Let us learn from our elders and live to tell our own stories" No doubt, this sentiment will be relevent to Serb Fest for generations to come!

Since 2009, TR Online has periodically brought you an in-depth back at notable years past in our “Turn Back The Clock” Series. Today, we take a look back at TR 2012, ten years later. A red letter year, not only because it marked the end of an era with regards to Jovan's final year, but did you know it also marks the last time we had representation from Serb Fest's first generation, the 'Elders'? Yes, it's been 10 years since we've been in the presence of these Legends of Turkey Run. But 2012 was much more than the end of an era... Take a look back at what made 2012 so unique and memorable.

TR 2012- Ten Years Later

Hats off to Cika Dave (yes, it’s about time we give the next generation of ‘elders’ some respect with all these kids running around these days!) Dave proactively proposed this playlist to me and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to share it as Volume 2 of the ‘TR High Council Picks’ series. The playlist was given to me, titled ‘Butt-Rock’…. I think it’s fitting. A collection of shirtless, testosterone-drenched rock and roll.

This is a STREAMING EXCLUSIVE. Check out the track list HERE and link to a Spotify or Apple Music Playlist!

FIRESIDE CHAT: JOVAN & SCOTT [Right click, save as] or tap to stream to your mobile devices

Well, buckle up for the next epic installment of the 'Fireside Chat' series. After 10 years, it finally felt like the right time to share this. I knew we had it tucked away in the vault and frankly, aside from the days immediately following it's filming in 2012, I didn't watch the footage again until a couple years ago. I decided to wait just a bit longer to share it and in this, the 10 year anniversary of Jovan's final appearance at TR - let's take a trip back and enjoy some profound words from the guy who ultimately brought most of us present day attendees together. I have a few things to say as well, but let's face it, we're all here for Jovan at this point! Never the less, I was (and still am) honored to have had the opportunity to chat with him on that evening.

Fireside Chat | Jovan & Scott
Watch Trailer HERE

Friends - As you know, this year we're recognizing the anniversary of John's final trip to Turkey Run. In so many ways, it feels like yesterday, but in many others, the painful reality that it has indeed been 10 years. That said, in 2012, John, Krangis and I were as jacked as ever to capture a ton of footage in hopes to put together another full-length documentary following 2003's Fire & Ice film. This new installment was to document the history of Serb Fest going back to the 1970's, connecting it to the TR we all know and love today.

While the project never materialized as originally planned, there's been several video releases over the years out of this footage. 'Cooler Sessions' is a series of interviews conducted with attendees under the hot sun, while enjoying a cold beer. The 'Fireside Chat' series is a bit more serious in nature... featuring some of our favorite Serb Fest attendees and Legends. The first of these chats was released in 2017... Five years later, and ten years since it's filming, we're finally ready to share the real highlight and true gem of the Fireside Chat series - a 13 minute sit-down with Jovan and Scott discussing a number of topics - How TR as we know it came about, to many of the traditions that were born in the late 90's, to John's ever-so eloquent take on life and why TR is such an important event to him.

It puts a lump in my throat to watch and share this with you all. It's not easy to watch, but it somehow brings me great joy and I'm grateful to have this moment captured. I hope you all find some joy in it as well! Enjoy this teaser and look for the full length video on May 23.

We're a mere 2 weeks out from TR 2022! The annual shopping/responsibility checklist was released today in the Facebook group. It'll be a busy week as we run through final preparations - placing the cevapcici order, reserving the shelter for TR 2023 and reserving rooms for TR 2024! We're excited to have some familiar faces return after a 2 year Covid hiatus. We'll be welcoming back the Mann's, CR and Bethany and the Heitzman's. It will no-doubt be an incredible weekend!

Yet another perfect collection of songs to add to the epic soundtrack of Serb Fest… I usually wait until closer to Memorial Day to share these out, but as I find myself enjoying these new additions months ahead of TR, I figured, how selfish it is to keep this to myself when I can share this spirit and happy energy with everyone?!

So here you have it! As always, some very familiar artists, familiar sounds and genres, but some new flavor as well! Take these with you on the road, play them in your homes as you crack a beverage or fire up the grill this Spring and lose yourself in the excitement for TR 2022!

Download the tracks HERE and add them to the mix for the drive to TR and your pre-TR prep festivities!

Greetings friends, Serb Fest attendees and Serb Fest alumni! It’s that time of year and not only do I have improving weather to remind me of our upcoming festivities in May, but I have anxious kids who continuously remind me that TR is around the corner! Let me cut to the chase… TR 2022 will be a special year – not just because every year is…. But because this year will mark 10 years since we got to spend our beloved weekend with the person who brought most of us together. It goes without saying that Jovan has been missed as we’ve continued to gather the last 10 years, but I know he’s with us in spirit. This year, some of his iconic photos will grace the banner image for TR 2022, but you may notice that there’s been a nod to him in each of these images since 2013 and will be for years to come! I hear his bellowing laugh whenever there’s a new idea to enhance the Serb Fest experience. That keeps me going – as I know it does for many of you. So this year, as always, let’s celebrate Jovy’s legacy and make it another great TR for the ages! I look forward to gathering round the grill with you all this Memorial Day weekend! Ziveli!

TR 2021, a return to relative normalcy for Serb Fest, though still missing a few key folks… It was great though to get most of the group back together! Going into the weekend, the weather looked a little dicey… with temperatures getting into the 40’s overnight and barely cracking 70 most of the weekend. Friday night was in fact a bit chilly and had some heavy rain, but the group huddled in the shelter with a healthy fire and all was well. Going into Saturday evening, we were prepared to pull the plug on what was sure to be a miserable kayak trip Sunday morning, but we ultimately went for it… and it turned out to be the best decision we made all weekend! The sun was shining and temperatures warmed to perfection! Water levels were low, so the current was nonexistent. We couldn’t have asked for a better trip! Review the full recap HERE!