Festival Foods: Announces new locations for 2016 Coulee Region Turkey Trot

Brian Stenzel, Community Involvement Director

Skogen’s Festival Foods

920.621.2408 

bstenzel@festfoods.com

Participants in this year’s Coulee Region Festival Foods Turkey Trot will start and finish at a new location – the Onalaska Omni Center, 255 Riders Club Road, Onalaska. With the move, Festival Foods can better serve the Coulee Region and provide an improved experience along with new courses.

The event begins at 8 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 24. Participants may choose a five-mile or two-mile walk or the Dog Jog, a separate group just for dogs and their owners.

In its ninth year, the Festival Foods Turkey Trot has become an annual Wisconsin Thanksgiving Day tradition for individuals and families across the state. Nearly 30,000 people across the state laced up their running shoes for the 2015 Festival Foods Turkey Trot, making it the state’s largest running event based on registered participants.

This year, the event will debut in Madison and Janesville, joining the Coulee Region and the communities of Appleton, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Manitowoc, Marshfield and Oshkosh. Participants will enjoy upbeat music and receive a high-quality, long-sleeved T-shirt before the race as well as a Festival Foods pumpkin pie at the finish line. All proceeds benefit local Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCAs in the communities where the Festival Foods Turkey Trots are held. Those organizations provide event volunteers in return for monetary proceeds. Volunteers offer a variety of services such as taking photographs, helping with registration and distributing water and pies to participants. The 2015 event raised $280,000, and over the span of its eight years, fundraising has totalled $1,570,000.

“We look forward to this year’s new race location in the Coulee Region,” said Mark Skogen, President and CEO of Festival Foods. “Each year it amazes me how much this event continues to impact the community. The energy of both running and walking participants, the leadership of the volunteers and the ongoing commitment from event sponsors truly bring our communities together for a fun-filled morning.”

Details of the 2016 Coulee Region Festival Foods Turkey Trot – such as course maps and parking information – can be found online at www.FestivalFoodsTurkeyTrot.com/race-
locations.php.

Cost is only $25 for adults and $20 for participants under age 18 until Nov. 20. Children in strollers are free. For more information and to register for any Festival Foods Turkey Trot, volunteer or view last year’s race results, please visit www.FestivalFoodsTurkeyTrot.com.

ABOUT FESTIVAL FOODS

Festival Foods is a family- and employee-owned company founded in 1946 as a Skogen’s IGA that began operating as Festival Foods in 1990. It employs more than 6,500 full- and part-time associates and operates 24 full-service supermarkets as well as Lakeside Foods in Paddock Lake, Wisconsin. Festival Foods is a culture-driven company committed to building relationships with guests and associates, serving communities, providing excellent service and investing in its associates. For more information about Festival Foods, visit www.festfoods.com.

CAREERS AT FESTIVAL FOODS

Festival Foods will be hiring a number of local individuals for a variety of positions. To view job openings and complete an application, please visit www.festfoods.com/careers.