"Media Watch" Column
The Missouri Invitational Celebrity Turkey Hunt
By James A. Swan, Ph.D
A light knock on my motel room door. I glance at the clock. It’s
3:30am. Jet lag, and rising at 3am; my biological clock says its 1am.
My guide, Rick Masterson, smiles as I open the door, shut off the
lights, and join him in the early morning mist. We drive through the
quiet streets of Warsaw, Missouri, population 2400, an idyllic hamlet
in the Ozarks about an hour and half’s drive east of Kansas City,
coming to a stop at the Captain’s Club restaurant, which overlooks
the Lake of the Ozarks; the home of some monster catfish, crappies
and paddlefish, Rick tells me. He also says that there are more
turkeys per square mile than people around Warsaw. We’ll soon see.
The Captain’s Club is hopping with a crowd of people all dressed in
camouflage, chowing down on an all-you-can-eat country style
breakfast. I fill up my mug and my plate, and sit down at a table.
All this may sound familiar to many of you. However, this is not a
normal turkey hunt. Dressed up like oak trees and wolfing down
mountains of biscuits and gravy and eggs are screen actors: Marty
Kove (“The Karate Kid,” “Wyatt Earp”), Annie Lockhart (“Kung
Fu,” “Battle Star Gallactica”), John D’Acquino (“Sea
Quest,” “Xena”), Leslie Easterbrook (“Police Academy,”
“LaVerne and Shirley“), and Francine Sama (“Air America,”
“Sunset Beach“), director/writer/producer Tom Greene (“Columbo,”
“Swamp Thing,”), and Chuck Stapel, who makes custom knives for
many feature films and celebrities. At the next table are former Oak
Ridge Boys bassist and now star of his own forthcoming TNN outdoor
show “Bushnell’s Secrets of the Hunt,” Dave Watson and
singer/songwriter Wade Kimes who has collaborated with country
artists including Garth Brooks on tunes such as “We Bury the
Hatchet.” Seated at other nearby tables are wildlife artists,
professional athletes, outdoor writers, Glenn Harrelson, Past
President of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Art Carter,
Publisher of Gray’s Sporting Classics, and Dick Kirby, President of
Quaker Boy Calls. All together, there are 34 “celebrities,” each
of whom has their own personal guide for the weekend.
Welcome to the 12
th annual Missouri Invitational Celebrity Turkey
Hunt, one of the nicest gatherings of people I have even been
privileged to attend. Hunt President and Chairman of the Board,
Darrel Thrasher, offers a special coffee toast to all, especially Tom
Greene, who has made all 12 hunts. Greene tells me that attending
this annual hunt is so important to him that it is written into his
contract that regardless where in the world he is, he will have time
off to fly to Warsaw Missouri to go turkey hunting each April. Darrel
reminds us that there will be a special prize for hunter who takes
the biggest tom. Immediately jokes fly around the room that the
competition is unfair with three such attractive women.
By 4:30am the Captain’s Club is nearly vacant, as we all are heading
for our hunting sites. Naturally Rick calls in a monster turkey. And
of course, the tom struts for 45 minutes just out range, with his
flock of ten hens, then vanishes into the woods, leaving me a wing
feather as a business card.
Hunting stops at 1pm. I have bagged a great memory. Back at the Warsaw
community center, people have more than stories. Leslie Easterbrook,
John D’Acqino, Marty Kove and Francine Sama have all bagged a
turkey. For both John and Francine, this is not only their first
turkey, but the first shot they have ever fired at a game animal. Art
Carter has bagged 22.4 lb. monster tom with 10 5/8” beard and 1
1/8” spurs that turns out to be the largest bird of the hunt.
The successful hunters sheepishly wave as I head back to the motel to
catch some sleep. That evening, a special fish fry is held at
Community Center for guides, hosts, celebrities, landowners and their
families. Dave Watson and Wade Kimes share some songs. Then Annie
Lockhart takes the microphone and says that she spent the day
“shopping” and will take the turkey of her choice tomorrow.
Watson, Greene and I, the “old pros,” are quiet. None of us got a
bird.
The next morning, same routine. Rick assures me that he has the ultimate
place all staked out. After all, he called in and killed his first
turkey at age seven and there are more turkeys in Missouri than any
other state, so I trust that he knows what he’s talking about. He
does show me lots of birds, and three come almost in range, but,
well, you know that’s hunting. Saved money on shells, anyway.
Back at the community center, Annie Lockhart is proudly pointing to her
turkey, which she has nicknamed “Bruce.” Greene, Watson and I are
skunked. The girls offer us some perfume, which they claim is their
secret weapon. Enough said.
Sunday evening, the MICTH Club throws a banquet, packing the community
center. In addition to the meal, there is an exhibition of some
spectacular wildlife art, an auction of art and hunting equipment,
and some entertainment from a new group “Dave Watson and the Hens”
(Sama, Lockhart and Easterbrook), performing “Stand By Your Guide,”
and several other ballads. Some of the proceeds from the event will
benefit Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, land other local
charities. In the last three years, these hunts have raised over
$15,000 for the hospital. A high point of the evening is when Lucy
Taylor and Jim Hensick of WHB radio in Kansas City read a
proclamation from the Congress honoring the MICTH Club for its
outstanding example of community service volunteerism.
This extraordinary event began in 1988 by a group of Warsaw sportsmen
interested in turkey hunting and promoting local tourism. A total of
eleven celebrities, including Tom Greene, Phil Spangenberger and
Peter Sherayko, attended the first hunt. Beginning in 1989, the event
was moved to the spring. Shirley Edmunds, celebrity liason, who has
volunteered countless hours arranging travel plants, etc., proudly
tells me past entertainers she has booked include: Ben Johnson, Ralph
Emery, Ned Beatty, Lee Horseley, Jerry Mathers, Patrick Duffy, James
Drury, Phil Spangenberger, Jameson Parker, Marshall Teague, Peter
Sherayko, Tom T. Hall, Thrasher/Shiver, and Ted Nugent. Many of them
have come back to give something back to the community as a way of
saying “thanks,” such as offering seminars for the schools on
drug abuse and acting. One recent graduate of Warsaw High School who
is now attending the Royal Shakespeare Academy in England, says she
got her inspiration from a workshop by Tom Greene.
Okay hunters, you want to know what you can do to help Hollywood people
become more aware of the heritage of hunting. Why not take some of
them hunting? Teaming the hunt with a charity benefit makes the offer
even better, as most celebrities feel they have a responsibility to
give something back to the people who have made their careers. You
could not find a better model than MICTH. This is an all-volunteer
event, unselfishly conducted by a warm-hearted community and the 100
member MICTH Club; people who really know how to produce a quality
event.
Perhaps you feel just a twinge of jealousy. You say that you, too, would like
to get an all-expenses paid trip to hunt wild turkeys in Warsaw next
April --the 2000 hunt will be April 29-30. Well, it could happen.
Every year the MICTH Club sells raffle tickets at $1.00 each to be in
a drawing to be an “instant celebrity.” Over the years, winners
have come from all around the US. If you’d like a shot at being
there, write to: MICTH, P.O. Box 613, Warsaw, MO 65355-0613: or call
660-438-5258. That monster gobbler is still out there, I’m told,
strutting, and gobbling up a storm. Incidentally, for you NAH members
who live in Missouri, next year Glenn Harrelson of NWTF and Dick
Kirby from Quaker Boy Calls are sponsoring a “junior instant
celebrity” to be drawn from recent graduates of Hunter Education
programs in Missouri.
MICTH Celebrities attending the 1999 Hunt:
- Leslie Easterbrook (actress)
- Francine Sama (actress)
- John Yeackle (artist)
- Annie Lockhart (actress)
- James A. Swan (writer-actor)
- Dave Watson (musician-TNN outdoor show host)
- Ed Hearn (speaker-former pro baseball player)
- Art Carter (publisher-editor), Bill Bynum (editor)
- John D’Acquino (actor)
- Jack Rudnay (former pro football player)
- Tom Greene (writer-director-producer)
- Marty Kove (actor), Dan Moreton (artist)
- Larry Myhre (writer), Phillip Powell (artist)
- Ron Lowry (artist), Larry Sellers (actor)
- Dan Christ (artist), Gary Howey (publisher-editor)
- Dennis Yates (artist)
- Jim Heckroth (shooting sports producer)
- Terry Hoyt (artist), Glenn Harrelson (NWTF)
- Dick Kirby (Quaker Boy Calls)
- Wade Kimes (musician)
- Chuck Stapel(custom knife maker).
Instant celebrities: Frank Haak and Gary Eisenhart.