The Middle Gate Turkey Trot

By Tanjua Damon

Middle Gate students trotted like turkeys November 13, not only to get exercise, but also to help the Women In Newtown organization collect nonperishable food items to help families in need this holiday season.

The entry fee for the annual Turkey Trot is a nonperishable food item that goes into a Thanksgiving basket for community families who need a little help or who may not otherwise have a Thanksgiving dinner.

The students then run, walk and socialize for about 15 minutes along a set trail around the school where parents and teachers cheer on the students as they make their way trotting around the course.

The students in the upper grades treat the Trot like a marathon race. Some run one time around to see who can come in the fastest, while others take the Trot as a distance run and make their way around the course several times. The Turkey Trot is not meant to be a race, just a way for the students to lend a helping hand to the members of their community.

“It was pretty fun,” said Brian Reszoly, who came in second in the boys Trot. “I feel good because I know I’m helping the poor.”

The hallway near the front office was filled with various types of nonperishable foods that the students in kindergarten through fifth grade donated to help fill the WIN Thanksgiving baskets.

“It was good,” said Nora Lynn Shimko, winner in the girls Trot. “It was a good run this year. It’s good because it helps the hungry people.”

The students who came in first in each grade are: first grade – Dan Poetl and Kristina Engler; second grade – Ryan Dunnigan and Lauren Maccharoli; third grade – Todd Walter and Jillian Jagoe; fourth grade – Ryan Daly and Katie Cochrane; and fifth grade – Kevin Canavan and Nora Lynn Shimko.

A special thank you goes to Zach Gordon, CJ Donahue and Christian Palmer for helping sort the food in the lobby for the baskets.