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Turn Back The Clock: A Look Back at TR2012 - Ten Years Later Well hey, turns out TR 2012 was a red letter year for Serb Fest – It would mark the end of an era for our group and none of us probably understood the reality of the moment at the time. In many ways though, it was probably better that way. As we all know, TR 2012 will forever primarily be remembered as Jovan’s final trip to TR before his passing later that year. I think it’s safe to say that while he may have known there was a chance it would be his last, he along with the rest of the group had another fantastic weekend! So putting aside the obvious – let’s take a look back on the many other reasons TR 2012 was a unique and special year!
Not only was it Jovan’s last trip to TR, but it marks the last appearance by anyone from TR’s first generation of attendees.. “The Elders” as we affectionately refer to them amongst the second and third generations… After a year off in 2011, Cica Daca, Teta Lela and Teta Cica all returned for one last hurrah. Perhaps one day we’ll get them back out, but understandably, it’s a tough trip to make at their ages! That said, while most of them won’t remember it, the young kids in attendance that year were lucky to have shared at least one Serb Fest with these Legends and Hall of Famers! We have plenty of photographic evidence of these precious moments and we’re sure to share those with the kids often.
2012 also marked the shocking return of then one-time attendee from TR2000, Sean Sullivan…. A friend of OLAF and crew, he was a late add to the attendance list. Having no doubt had fond memories of his trip 12 years earlier, he thought it’d be nice to return with his wife for a nice weekend. While I’m sure they had a hell of a time, we’ve not had another appearance from the Sullivan’s since. Perhaps OLAF can work on that! The 2012 Overview doesn’t go into a tremendous amount of detail on the weekend’s events. It does mention the focus on filming that year. In recent years, we’ve been able to release 2 series of videos that came from that weekend of filming…. And of course, the emotional ‘trailer’ for TR 2013 rallying us all together in Jovan’s memory relied heavily on footage from 2012. It was hotter than hell in 2012, that’s for sure. Temperatures were in the mid 90’s and probably touched 100 at some point. It’s been highly unusual to get anywhere near that hot on Memorial Day weekend as far as I remember the last 25 years. With several young kids, including a 2 ½ month old Carter Berger, we were all looking for ways to escape the heat. This meant more shelter time and looking for different areas of the park that provided more shade than our typical spot adjacent to the tennis courts. That didn’t stop us from spending at least part of the weekend at our preferred grill site. It literally meant shifting our chairs every 30 minutes to follow the bit of shade we had!
The beer float was a scorcher and as you can imagine, the group ran dry before hitting the suspension bridge at Turkey Run State Park. The group was thankfully able to dock at the bridge and sent Crazy Dan up to the grill area to collect another load of cold beverages. We all learned that rubbing an ice cold can of beer under your arms will really cool you down in a hurry when it’s exceptionally hot. Not sure how excited I’d be to consume that beverage at that point, but let’s face it, we stoop to some pretty trashy levels at TR, so it works out!
Props to BS for having traveled 40+ hours from Asia to attend TR. He managed to plan his travels around Memorial Day weekend… A move for which he should be commended. Unfortunately, in recent years, he’s become a lost soul… with only one trip to TR in recent memory. Despite this, he remains a fixture on the TR High Council and a core piece of the Legend of Turkey Run. We continue to encourage him to return to a more regular track record of attendance!
Of course, Dan was as crazy as ever in 2012, emphatically taking home the Honorary Vince Kus Intellectual of the Year Award with a number of heavy hitting hilarious quotes, not to mention 2 segments of extended interviews on camera, both at the Coolers at Fireside in the Inn. These have proven to be absolutely priceless footage of a true Legend of Serb Fest and the most tenured attendee of TR as it stands today.
So let’s raise a glass to an amazing year… 10 years later, we celebrate you. Ziveli!!
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