Sentinel staff report–
Have a camera and live in Citrus Heights? If so, a local neighborhood group says you qualify to enter their 10th annual “Turkey Shoot” contest for a chance to win a frozen Thanksgiving turkey to take home. Although the term can refer to hunting turkeys, the local “shoot” involves residents shooting photos of the feathered fowls and competing for who can take the best photo.
“We’ve been doing it for years because there’s so many turkeys in our area,” said Jayna Karpinski-Costa, president of the Sylvan Old Auburn Ranch (SOAR) neighborhood association, in a prior interview. “We love our wild turkeys and want to celebrate them in the month of November.”
The neighborhood president considers the wild turkeys that regularly roam her area to be a “neighborhood asset,” noting that while a few residents complain about the turkeys — most residents in her area enjoy watching the large birds stroll through the neighborhood. Her area is also home to a “Turkey Crossing” sign on Highland Avenue near Mariposa Avenue, where turkeys have been caught on camera crossing the street.
Although the annual contest is open to any resident of the city, turkey photos must have been taken within the boundaries of the SOAR neighborhood association, which is one of 11 different neighborhood areas that make up Citrus Heights. SOAR is bounded by Sylvan Road on the west, Old Auburn Road in the north, Sunrise Boulevard as its eastern boundary, and Greenback Lane in the south.
>>See a map of the neighborhood boundaries and learn more about Citrus Heights’ 11 neighborhood areas: “Neighborhood groups REACH out to connect Citrus Heights residents”
Picture submissions can be taken to SOAR’s Nov. 21 meeting, where association members will vote on the best photo. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Sylvan Community Center at 7521 Community Dr. and contestants, or a representative, must be present at the meeting in order to win and take home the prize.
Residents are also welcome to submit more than one photo, but SOAR requires that all pictures be “real photo prints” rather than computer printouts, and all photos become property of the neighborhood association. Meeting attendees who want to take a shot at a 20-question “Turkey Trivia” will also have a chance to win “all the fixin’s” for a turkey dinner, Karpinski-Costa said.
See contest flier: click here
