Who Said Turkeys and Gambling Don’t Mix

Wyoming Firefighters Association Event Offers Good Fun for the Whole Family

By Val Prevish for the City of Wyoming

It’s been described as Mayberry meets Vegas, and those who know say the Wyoming Firefighters Association (WFA) Turkey Raffle is an event not to be missed.

With a tradition that dates back nearly 100 years, and a noble mission of supporting the City’s hard-working volunteer firefighters, the Turkey Raffle is up there with May Fete and the Wyoming Art Show in community pedigree. But ask any random Wyoming resident what goes on at a turkey raffle and they would most likely be stumped for an answer.

Sophia Sidley, president of the WFA and a volunteer with the Wyoming Fire & EMS Department, said she wants to change that.

“I think everyone in Wyoming should come to a turkey raffle at least once,” she said. “It’s the most fun you’re going to have in about one hour’s time.”

Held at the Wyoming Civic Center every November, participants crowd around a u-shaped set of tables where they buy numbers using raffle tickets purchased from the WFA. The number that determines a winner is chosen after a spin of the wheel – think roulette wheel – and the winner gets a fresh Amish turkey from the Wyoming Meat Market (delivered later by fire truck).

Sidley said the atmosphere is high-energy mixed with a lot of lighthearted fun. Ticket holders yell for “runners” from the WFA to get them numbers in time for the next spin of the wheel. Tickets go flying as the “gamblers” discard their losing tickets and frantically yell for more numbers and another chance at a fresh bird. And, of course, there’s refreshments from the Civic Center bar to keep the gambling fever going.

“There’s lots of yelling. It’s totally electric,” said Sidley, who added that about 60 turkeys are raffled each night of the two-night event.

Fire Chief Dennis Brown said ticket holders could go home with one turkey or several. They could also go home empty-handed. “It’s good to have a back-up plan, just in case,” he cautioned. (The department will help with donating extra turkeys to charity if a lucky winner chooses to do so.)

Katie Hamilton, whose son, Steven, served as a cadet before graduating from Wyoming High School in 2011, said she considers the Turkey Raffle a must on her calendar every year.

“It’s just a lot of fun,” she said. “You see young and old alike. There are neighbors there that I can catch up with because I don’t see them much anymore. It’s just a terrific way to support the community.”

Long Tradition of Turkey Raffles 

Wyoming is not alone in holding an annual turkey raffle. A quick Google search for turkey raffles reveals numerous fire departments across the country that use this unique event for raising money. Nearby fire departments, such as Lockland, Reading, and Greenhills have their own turkey raffles.

The earliest references to Wyoming’s Turkey Raffle date back to 1932, according to the Wyoming Historical Society. It appears the tradition has continued unbroken from that point to today. How turkey raffles became associated with fire departments is somewhat of a mystery, although there are historical references to turkey raffles dating to the 19th century as an early form of gambling in saloons.

End of Year Celebration, Source of Funds for Coming Year

The Turkey Raffle serves as the unofficial kick-off to the holiday season, and a vital source of funding all year long for Wyoming Fire & EMS. In 2024, the event netted $21,000 for the department, one of the highest totals ever. Throughout its history, it’s generated tens of thousands, enabling equipment purchases and training that would be difficult to otherwise afford for the volunteer department.

Recently, the money has helped purchase thermal imaging cameras, battery-powered positive pressure fans, and scholarships for senior fire cadets. It also supports the department’s community outreach for events such as the Easter Egg Hunt, Halloween candy giveaway and summer Safety Camp, plus educational efforts within the local schools through demonstrations and safety events.

In addition, the funding supports the volunteers themselves with meals during long days of training, an annual awards banquet, and, on occasion, assistance with funerals.

“As a volunteer department, fundraising is essential to our mission,” said Brown. “Without the support of the community, our volunteers would not have all the equipment and training they need to do their jobs safely and efficiently. The Turkey Raffle is a fun, family-friendly way to support all the work our volunteers do all year.”

Details: The Wyoming Fire Association Turkey Raffle will start at 6 p.m. Nov. 21 and 22 at the Wyoming Civic Center. Watch for a flyer in the mail to order your tickets, or buy them at the door each evening. Can’t be there but want to help: donate at turkeyraffle.com. 

New this year: The event will include a silent auction with items such as tickets to the Cincinnati Zoo, a signed soccer ball from FC Cincinnati, and passes to Perfect North Slopes. There will also be a chance to win a Thanksgiving centerpiece from Wyoming Florist and special baked goods from the Wyoming Pastry Shop.

Newly Hired Recreation Director Wants City’s Recreation Options to Offer More Opportunities for Residents of all Abilities and Fitness Levels

By Val Prevish for the City of Wyoming

Chris Skidmore became Wyoming’s new Director of Recreation in early July after former director Rachel Leininger was named the City’s Director of Human Resources and Community Engagement. After 18 years working in public recreation with many of the Midwest’s fastest-growing communities and suburbs, Skidmore said he has found his dream job right here in Wyoming.

“I feel like all my years in recreation have led me to this great opportunity,” he said. “I want my values to align with the community’s, and I feel with Wyoming I have that fit. Wyoming is a community that values diversity and embraces cultural differences. I hold those values as well.”

Prior to coming to Wyoming, Skidmore was serving as the recreation supervisor in Gahanna, Ohio, a large suburb east of Columbus. He has held a variety of recreation management roles, including program supervisor in Oak Park, Illinois, youth sports coordinator in Granville, Ohio, and recreation superintendent in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Recreation management is a career he’s loved from his college days at Kent State University, where he graduated with a degree in sports management.

Landing his new role in Wyoming is the culmination of years of hard work, he noted, and he feels he’s prepared to lead Wyoming’s Recreation Department toward an even higher level of engagement with the community, expanding its reach and offerings.

Accreditation for Wyoming Camps a Priority

One of the first projects he plans to tackle is accreditation for Wyoming’s summer camp.

“An ACA accreditation (American Camp Association) is the gold standard in the camp industry,” he said. “I helped lead Gahanna through this process, and I’m well-versed in ACA protocol. This would take Wyoming’s camp program to the next level.”

The ACA is the only organization to offer an accreditation to camps. Earning ACA accreditation means the camp has met a set of standards related to the quality of the camp and the health and safety of its participants and staff.

Specific guidelines include staff to camper ratio, precise policies and procedures for operation, and detailed documentation logs to offer parents an accurate picture of children’s activities during the camp day.

Skidmore said the accreditation process could take several years, but he has already begun implementing some small changes that will move Wyoming’s camp program in this direction.

“I think parents will notice a more diverse palate of programming,” he said. “We’d like to get kids outdoors in nature more in a way that is similar to what most people traditionally think of as a summer camp experience.”

He said the camps will also increase their opportunities for outdoor education, art, and athletics. Skidmore noted that he plans to hire a seasonal program specialist in each of these three areas to research, plan, and implement the programs into the daily schedule. 

He does not foresee enlarging the camp’s enrollment significantly due to space limitations. But he would like to expand the program’s reach.

Future offerings include the potential to add a half-day pre-school camp for ages 4-5 and a teen camp for 12–14-year-olds. The teen camp would provide young teens the chance to take part in service projects and leadership opportunities that build their skills as they reach high school age.

“Our goal is to serve the Wyoming community in a way that we can have summer camp programs for local youth their entire childhood,” he said. “I would like to create a culture that when our campers age out, there are opportunities for them to remain engaged with the camp through employment in the form of CIT’s (counselors in training) and counselors.”

New Programming for Adults, Park Upgrades

Wyoming is fortunate to have a number of excellent recreation facilities for a community its size, such as its recreation center, turf fields, and aquatic facility, Skidmore noted. He wants to explore more opportunities for these facilities, and the City’s parks, to meet the needs of the community, possibly by adding specialty programming, improving amenities, or increasing access to the facilities.

Some examples of new potential programs could be more women’s sports, or nature-inspired classes that utilize Wyoming’s parks in new ways, such as canoeing, kayaking, family hikes, or creeking. Skidmore emphasized that his goal is to encourage Wyoming residents to get outside and explore the City’s parks and walking trails.

“This is a community that values being active and being outside. I love that about Wyoming. I want to create safe spaces that support that.”

He said he also looks forward to working with the many community organizations that partner with Wyoming to offer unique events in the City, such as the Wyoming Art Show, Wyoming City Schools, and the Wyoming Car Show.

Skidmore and his wife, Kelly, and daughter, Vada, a middle schooler, now make their home in Wyoming as well, buying a house here shortly before he started his new job. He said he has felt welcomed by the community and looks forward to meeting more residents in the months to come.

“The people I’ve met here have been so friendly. As a resident myself, you will see my family and I around town, whether it be the Village Green for events, cheering on our Cowboys or supporting local businesses. I enjoy meeting people, so I hope folks will feel free to say hello.

“It’s a privilege to serve Wyoming. I feel very fortunate to be here,” he added. “This is really a destination role for me. I am very proud to be Wyoming’s Recreation Director.”

Wyoming Volunteer Firefighters are a Vital Force for Local Safety

Service Has Benefit of Strong Bonds and Visible Impact on the Community

By Val Prevish for the City of Wyoming

Michael Groteke grew up with the Wyoming Fire & EMS Department. His memories of family meals within his bustling household of nine include watching his dad, Mark, frequently leave the dinner table abruptly when he got a call for an emergency. Mark is a longtime volunteer firefighter for Wyoming. His service to his community made a lasting impression on his son.

“I remember how when the alarm sounds, he’s gone,” Groteke said of those moments. “He didn’t see it as an interruption. He would say, ‘Somebody needs me. I have to go.’”

Today, Groteke, a 2017 graduate of Wyoming High School who now works full-time as a designer for TRC, an engineering firm in utilities and transportation, is following in his dad’s footsteps. He is training to be a volunteer firefighter for Wyoming.

“He was a big inspiration for me,” Groteke said of his dad. “He made volunteering work in his busy life. So I always saw it as a positive.”

Groteke is one of three new recruits for Wyoming currently training to become volunteer firefighters. There are also four fire cadet recruits (student volunteers from Wyoming High School) who will complete training for more adult volunteer roles now that they are high school graduates. 

The recruits and graduating cadets take part in a 36-hour firefighting class that began this spring. They also participate in weekly drills to practice hands-on skills, 12 of which are mandatory each year to maintain active status with the department, although the department recommends 24.

Recruit Michael Groteke reviews rope handling with Wyoming Fire Chief Dennis Brown.

Wyoming’s Fire & EMS Department was founded in 1892 and has remained a mostly volunteer organization since that date. While the department hires part-time paramedics, firefighters are all volunteers.

Dating to America’s first colonial settlements, when it is said Benjamin Franklin founded the first official volunteer firefighting company in Philadelphia in 1736, volunteer fire departments have been vital to communities across the country. 

Wyoming’s crew of 40 volunteer firefighters takes part in about 350 emergency calls each year, although only a small portion of these are active structure fires. Paramedics handle another 691 calls, often supported by the fire department.

Groteke said he always knew he wanted to be a volunteer firefighter after growing up around the department. His dad started as a cadet in Wyoming in the 1980s and his mom volunteered for the Arlington Heights Fire Department.

“I grew up around the fire house,” he said. “My whole family has been involved with Wyoming’s EMS. Me and my siblings would ride in the trucks during the parades. I’ve always wanted to serve in some way.”

The appeal of being a volunteer firefighter extends beyond just the chance to volunteer in the community, however, Groteke noted. There’s also the unique team cohesion of the department that promotes a strong camaraderie among its members.

“There’s a family atmosphere, a brotherhood,” Groteke said. “We’re all working toward a common goal. You need to have familiarity to depend on each other in an emergency.”

Wyoming Fire Chief Dennis Brown said the department is a close-knit community for a reason.

“We rely heavily on each other,” said Brown. “That creates strong bonds and friendships.”

Volunteer fire recruits Carter Woods (left) and Michael Dahlquist review ladder techniques with instructor Lieutenant Mark Groteke (Michael Groteke’s father) during a drill. Carter Woods is a 2025 graduate of Wyoming's Fire Cadet program who said he has been interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter since seventh grade, after meeting an older cadet. He described the cadet program as "The most fun four years I've ever had. The fire department has become my second family."

In addition to taking part in emergency runs and regular drills and trainings, the volunteers also help out with various events in the City, such as fundraisers and cookouts that support the department and other local services and organizations. They also host the annual Turkey Raffle every November, the department’s biggest fundraiser, and the Easter Egg Hunt in the spring.

The ongoing community involvement and the chance to form lasting friendships is frequently mentioned by firefighters as one reason they stay with the department for years, or even decades, said Brown.

For Michael Dahlquist, who recently moved to Wyoming because of his girlfriend, Maggie Fitzpatric, whose family lives here, the social belonging was a welcome benefit of joining the Wyoming Fire & EMS team as a volunteer recruit.

“The closeness of the group extends beyond the department,” he said. “I feel I could be a part of that. Wyoming feels like a close-knit community. Everyone knows each other and they care about what’s going on. It seems like a great place to be.”

Dahlquist also hopes to become a professional firefighter. He is currently applying to fire academies to start training. Being a volunteer firefighter is great experience, he said, as well as a way to meet new friends in the area, having moved here from Illinois.

As with many other volunteers, Dahlquist has a family connection to firefighting. His grandfather was a firefighter and paramedic in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Tragically, he also lost a brother in a house fire. An event that made a significant impact on his feelings about his future.

“That was a big part of my interest in firefighting,” he said. “I don’t want others to face that kind of loss.”

He hopes his professional work as a firefighter and his volunteer efforts will prevent future tragedies.

It is estimated that a little more than 60 percent of U.S. fire departments are volunteer, and another 15 percent are mostly volunteer. But the number of volunteers is dwindling as fewer Americans find time to fit volunteering into their busy schedules. In 2020, the number of volunteer firefighters stood at nearly 697,000, according to the National Volunteer Fire Council. But this is a decline of more than 200,000 from the mid-1980s, during a period when the U.S. population grew by roughly 40 percent. 

Volunteers are essential to the mission of Wyoming’s Fire & EMS Department, said Brown. The department is maintaining its numbers, but he would like to see more new recruits to ensure a robust pipeline exists to replace volunteers who gradually retire from service.

“We get folks from all walks of life, both men and women,” he said. “There really isn’t a typical firefighter. The only requirements are that you live or work in Wyoming or nearby.

“There are very few volunteer jobs that I can think of where you can make an immediate impact like this one,” he said. “You’ll make a difference in people’s lives right away. It’s very rewarding.”

In full fire gear, recruits run through regular drills to learn techniques and safety. Here, Michael Groteke works with the recruit team learning equipment handling.