6.02.14 :: TR 2014 Another Great Success!

Another classic Serb Fest is behind us. An amazing group of people. New faces, young faces and faces from Serb Fests past.... Would could have asked for more out of the weekend? A sincere THANK YOU to all who attended for continuing the Legend that is Turkey Run! Relive the memories HERE.

Congratulations to 2014 Rookie of the Year, Dave Abel! This year, for the first time, the ROY was awarded through a vote amongst the TR High Council. Dave's attitude and energy among other unmentionables locked it up. Congrats are also due to young Ethan Heitzman for securing the 2014 Cevapcici Consuption Award! Your enthusiasm in consuming your very first cevap was unmatched by anyone else all weekend! See past award winners HERE.

5.17.14 :: A Second Audio Release in 2014! TR High Council PICKS + BONUS!

Just can't contain ourselves here at TR Online! So we have yet another Audio release for your listening pleasure! This time we've enlisted the input of the esteemed TR High Council for their top picks - one song each that to them, undeniably represented the Spirit of Turkey Run!

This idea was built off a suggestion from Jovan in 2012 when he recommended a song to be included on a future release. As 2014 came around, I figured, why not have each councilman follow Jovan's lead and select a tune?! It turns out some councilmen really couldn't pick just one... so out of that came the BONUS disc of additional tunes!

Download the tracks HERE, add them to your iTunes playlists and gear up for another high energy drive (or flight) to TR!

5.09.14 :: TR Shopping List Now Available!

The annual shopping list is now available. As usual, we've tried to keep this as simple as possible with a goal of providing a baseline supply of communal food, alcohol and supplies - responsibilities being divided amongst the group. Also, as usual, we're asking new attendees to contribute to the "Serbian Cuisine" fund - a donation of $30 to Nutz. PLEASE HAVE CASH AVAILABLE at TR! Along with the donation, 1 case of beer is requested. Remember, the spirit of Turkey Run is somewhat trashy, so sticking with lower end beers (Old Style, High Life, Stroh's, PBR) is encouraged!

If there are any questions or concerns with fulfilling your assignments, please reach out ASAP so we can reassign items if need be!

TR 2014 SHOPPING LIST

5.06.14 :: 2014 Awards - Will You Compete??

Such a special part of Serb Fest each year, is the presentation of our annual awards at the end of the weekend. I look forward to recognizing the Spirit of each of the award winner and adding these individuals to the long list of award winners from years past. Having been formally presenting awards since 2003, we've seeing an impressive group of winners that continues to grow each year! As we know, the covetted Jovan Zelenkovich Memorial Golden Cevapcici Award is the highest honor one can receive - but it is only awarded every other year. All other awards, including Rookie of the Year, Cevapcici Consumption Award, Honorary Vince Kus Intellectual of the Year and Most Improved are all annual awards, but are only awarded if there is deemed a worthy recipient.

With that said, I encourage each and every one of you to consider stacking your "TR Resumes". Seek to win an award you've never won. Or seek to recapture a title you've held in the past. Stacking the deck will only help you when it comes time to determine the next Golden Cevapcici Award Winner!

Browse the AWARDS ARCHIVE and appreciate the many award winners who've made the TR history books. I look forward to seeing who takes home the "hardware" in 2014! Ladies, this includes you all! It's time we open up the field and bring even greater competitive spirit to Serb Fest! Good Luck!

5.02.14 :: Serb Fest Collection - LIVE Released!

The newest audio release from TR Online is now available! Serb Fest Collection- LIVE contains 12 incredible live performances of classic Serb Fest songs sampled from each of the previous 6 audio releases! The idea came to me last year when stumbling across a performance of Gov't Mule's "Tear Me Down", a song featured during the credits of 2003's Fire & Ice Extravaganza documentary. I was inspired by the energy of the live performance and the presence of the crowd and thought how fantastic it would be to assemble live performances of some of the best TR-related tures we've grown to love over the last decade-plus!

Download the tracks HERE, add them to your iTunes playlists and gear up for another high energy drive (or flight) to TR!

MORE on this release.

4.26.14 :: Documentary Update

As we all know, the next documentary has been slated for release on-again-off-again for several years. Knowing realistically this will be the last full-scale video release at least until the 3rd generation is poised to carry the Serb Fest torch, the intent is to truly make this next release as strong as possible; one that captures the essence and spirit of Turkey Run past, present and future. We have phenomenal footage and interviews in our vault and while we initially targeted this May as a release date, Krangis has made the executive decision to postpone release one more year in an effort to capture additional supporting footage at TR 2014 to fulfill his vision! While the wait is a bit painful, the wait will be worth it! Give Krangis, the reigning Golden Cevapcici Award receipient, a vote of encouragement when you see him this year!

In the meantime, we're working on getting the original Fire & Ice documentary online including bonus footage for your viewing pleasure! Stay tuned to TR Online for more information in the coming weeks!

4.26.14 :: TR Online Updates

Enhancements are being made annually to TR Online, typically from February to June. While I got a late start this year, several enhancements and updateds have been made recently with more to come! Check out the new look TR High Council page, Code of Ethics page and FAQ page. Content is also being made to Profile pages regularly. As always, if you have any photos or care to contribute any written content to yours or someone else's profile, please contact me!

4.25.14 :: More Attendence News - O'Kelly to Return to Serb Fest

It's been confirmed that Brian O'Kelly will indeed be making his return to Turkey Run this year after a one year hiatus. This will be his 3rd trip to Serb Fest. He made his TR debut in 2010, taking home Rookie of the Year honors with his energy and youthful spirit. We're glad to see him return! I'm also happy to report that we'll be joined by a friend of Brian's, Dave Abel. I've yet to have the pleasure of meeting Dave, but I'm confident that we'll (and by we, I mean Crazy Dan) break him in in short order! Rookie of the Year honors looks to be quite the competitive landscape this year with several first time attendees among us!

4.25.14 :: Attendance List Taking Shape for TR 2014

With under 1 month to go, I've received confirmations I'm happy to report and as always, a few that come with some sadness. I'm happy to introduce a new family joining us this year, courtesy of the Heitzman's. Welcome to their friends, Joe, Shawna and their 1 yr old son Brody! I've also received confirmation of the return of 2013 rookies, Erich and Lauren Mann, who this year will be joined by their son Henry! I've received unconfirmed word that we may be joined again by Mr. Brian O'Kelly after a one year hiatus! This is good news, especially considering it appears that Serb Fest, for the first time in 14 years, will be without the presence of Brian Kelley. We will surely miss his antics, but will eagerly await his return in 2015! Sadly, it appears that Chuckles will be unable to make his highly anticpated return to TR this year. The door is not completely closed at this point, but we're at the mercy of the ridiculously high airefare coming to a reasonable point. More to come! As always, please relay any attendence confirmations to me!

4.24.14 :: Competition Heats up for 2014 Cevapcici Consumption Award!

Things are getting intense on the Serb Fest Facebook page, as several Moms are volunteering and insisting their young will be in strong competition for this year's Cevapcici Consumption Award. Reigning award winner, Scott Berger had a thing or two to say about it though, being clearly interesting in defending his title! This will surely be settled 'round the blazing grills of TR. Keep in mind if you're thinking about this logically - a grown man with a solid appetite vs young toddlers - surely this can't be a fair matchup! The award is not solely given on quantity of sausages, but more-so on the spirit with which they're consumed! This throws an element of subjectivity into the competition, but certainly makes it much more interesting! I encourage all attendees to compete!

3.22.14 :: TR 2014 - Right Around The Corner!

So, admittedly, a late start this year on TR Online, but alas, the season of TR hype is upon us! While most of us have endured perhaps the worst winter of our lives, going strong into March, the good news is that April is a week away and we're less than 9 short weeks until TR 2014! The warm sun and sizzle of the grill never sounded so good! As usual, I have big plans for TR Online in the coming months and hope that it fuels your excitement for Memorial Day weekend as much as it does mine! Stay tuned!

6.20.13 :: Happy 10th Birthday, TR Online!

It seems like just yesterday that this great idea of a website to honor TR was born, but believe it or not, its been 10 YEARS! TR Online has come a long way from its inception following TR 2003. It was initially put together to simply help a few of us help remember who attended the prior few years. This information was previously tracked on a spreadsheet (along with the still-used TR shopping list). This spreadsheet is mentioned by John in the Fire & Ice Documentary when he has trouble remembering some of the attendees from years past and "wishes he had that spreadsheet!". Today, TR Online serves as hub for perspective attendees, but most importantly, as a look back to the memories that are made year after year at TR! Its an almanac of Serb Fest history and I simply can't wait to see how the site and its content evolves over the next 10 years! Thank you all for visiting!

6.02.13 :: TR 2013 - A Success, Once Again!

TR 2013 may always be most remembered for being our first TR without our old friend Jovan, but we’ll also remember it as a celebration of his memory and affirmation that this great tradition that he was so passionate about will continue to live on in his honor. Thanks to all who attended in 2013 and for living in the great spirit of Serb Fest amongst family and great friends! There’s so much to recognize coming out of the weekend – particularly with regards to a number of Awards handed out this year! Congratulations are in order for Krangis, who took home the honor of being the 5th recipient of the (newly renamed) Jovan Zelenkovich Memorial Golden Cevapcici Award. Congratulations are also in order for the 2013 Rookie of the Year, Ethan Heitzman, the Vince Kus Honorary Intellectual of the Year, Max Russo, and Cevapcici Consumption Award winner, Scott Berger. Each recipient demonstrated exceptional displays of the Tenets of Turkey Run. I invite you to relive the great memories of TR 2013 HERE.

5.17.13 :: TR Multimedia On-the-Go! Fire & Ice Special Edition Now Available through Digital Download!

Looking to hype up your upcoming TR experience on the go?! We've long offered digital downloads of your favorite soundtracks and Serb Fest music collections. We have two exciting and emotional video trailers available to stream online. Now, I'm proud to announce the release of 2004's "Fire & Ice Extravaganza" through digital download!

Download and import into iTunes to carry this classic TR footage with you on your mobile devices! Its great for the ride down to TR or your flight into Chicago! Hell, its great for the kids! In the future we hope to bring you additional bonus footage from the Special Edition release!

Download the video file [right click, save as] HERE
(be sure the file extension is saved as .m4v)

And of course, reconnect with the incredible music collections we have available for download - inspired by the Spirit of Turkey Run! Speaking from personal experience, these tunes set the stage for TR like nothing else!

5.12.13 :: Video Trailer for TR2013 is Released!

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