Buyers gobble up annual turkey sale

Some turkeys weren’t meant to be pardoned.

They were meant to be stuffed, slathered in gravy and eaten in a Thanksgiving feast.

About 250 of those birds, averaging about 20 pounds apiece, were sold Monday when the Penn State Poultry Science Club held its annual pre-Thanksgiving turkey harvest sale in the Meats Lab.

PSC President Josh Cassar said about $20,000 would be raised from the sale for club functions, including industry trips and biannual international trips. According to Cassar, people were in line more than four hours before the doors opened at noon.

“It all comes back to advertising,” Cassar said. “We had a float for homecoming this year. Because we moved to the Meats Lab this year they advertised this sale to their customers every Friday. We had a lot of added publicity, too this year. Even without all of that, it just becomes more popular every year.”

The last customer, Cassar said, bought the last bird at 1:40 p.m., making the sale one hour and 40 minutes long, about an hour faster than in years past.

“It’s crossed our minds to sell more, but the restraint is we can raise upwards of 1,000 to 2,000 birds,” he said. “To keep them considered fresh for sale, we’re limited to a three-day process window to student volunteers, so it limits us a little bit and is the only reason we don’t do more.”

Terry Hansel, an Office of Physical Plant employee, buys a few turkeys every year, at least one for his family and one for his brother’s.

“I’ve been here 24 years, and I think I’ve bought them every year,” Hansel said. “We get a little bit of everything. We deep fry some, smoke some, so everyone can go back for seconds.”

Jinny Wilkes, of Arlington, Va., will cook for 19 this week. She recalled buying turkeys as a child with her mother at Penn State.

She kept the tradition alive, buying three turkeys, one a 30-pounder that tested the resiliency of four grocery bags.

“It has to be gluten free, so I won’t stuff it,” Wilkes said. “It has to be baked in the oven with salt and pepper and olive oil and garlic and herbs. We have a lot of people, so no leftovers.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 3:02 PM with the headline "Buyers gobble up annual turkey sale."