Here for the turkey

Ever been to Aneta, North Dakota? Before June 21, 2025, neither had I. That’s saying something, since I grew up only 30 minutes away on a farm in the heart of Nodak Electric Cooperative country. But I’d been hearing rumors that the tiny town of 200 puts on one of the best summer parties in the state so, naturally, I had to see it for myself.

But here’s the thing about the famous Aneta Turkey Barbecue – you smell it before you see it. That’s what happens when you slow-roast more than 280 turkeys in the open air of the city park.

The poultry-infused charcoal haze I stepped through that Saturday has been the siren song of sorts for Aneta for 64 years now, since the first turkey barbecue back in 1961. Around 3,000 people fill the town for the feast and other ancillary festival events like a rhubarb tasting (how North Dakota) and parade, which is where I stood when I received a text from event organizer Mandy Wentz. She had some time to chat in the moments between the parade and the start of the turkey feed at 4:30 p.m.

She’s a busy lady on this specific day of the year and has been for a long time.

“I’ve been involved with the Aneta Turkey Barbeque since I could lift a brick at about age six,” Mandy laughed, referencing the cement blocks assembled for the yards-long turkey spit. “I grew up right across the street from the park and my dad's always been a part of it. I just kind of followed him around when it was set-up time, and I've been doing it every year.”

Mandy, a Nodak Electric member, is a member of the Aneta Booster Club charged with the annual planning of the turkey barbecue. She’s become a bit of a local star for her leadership, which I realized when a stranger approached her. “So you’re the famous Mandy?”

“I’m Mandy!” she beamed, extending her hand. “Nice to meet you!”

Mandy and the Booster Club aren’t alone in the effort of feeding nearly 2,000 visitors a buffet of turkey, beans, potato salad, rolls and more. The team is joined by volunteers who come home to Aneta from around the country. “It's incredible. They come back because they love it and it's so fun,” Mandy said. “Everybody has a spot, they know what to do and they just jump in.”

The original gobble

The story goes that the Aneta Turkey Barbeque was started in 1961 as way to thank the area’s growing population of turkey farmers. The local elevator was selling feed for the turkeys, so the town had a lot to celebrate. Turkey farms are harder to find in eastern North Dakota now, but the celebration continues.

By pure luck in the herd of hungry hundreds, I ran into 100-year-old Anez Thompson, Aneta’s eldest resident, enjoying turkey and the fixings with her family at one of the park’s shaded picnic tables. She’s also a bit of a local celebrity, serving as the Aneta parade’s grand marshal two years ago at the young age of 98.

“I wouldn’t miss it. I gotta come every time,” she said. Her loved ones smiled as she reminisced. “I lived out on the farm, and we raised turkeys. Somehow or another, my husband brought the turkeys in town here, where they cleaned them up. And that’s how it started.”

Anez isn’t the only one with ties to the original turkey bash. Sisters Pat Solberg and Marilyn Lind Short are the daughters of Jack Lind, one of the partners who organized the first Aneta Turkey Barbecue over six decades ago. Pat now lives in Fargo, but makes the trip back to Aneta every year for the barbeque. It’s an opportunity to catch up with family and old friends – and eat the best white meat you can find.

“The turkey is wonderful. It is every year. And I have all this to take home,” Pat said, pointing to a plate still heaping with turkey. “They don’t give you enough,” she added with deadpan sarcasm.

Pat’s sister Marilyn moved back to Aneta in 1993, so Pat always has a place to stay when she returns to town. They count on the annual turkey barbeque as a time to reconnect. I think.

“We love each other,” Marilyn told me. “We love doing things together.”

“Well, speak for yourself,” Pat poked, in a way only an older sister could.

Marilyn smirked. “She’s sleeping on my couch. I might just put her on the floor.”

Preserving tradition

All the talking turkey made me want to eat turkey, so I finally found my way into one of the six long lines of people waiting for their plate. The volunteers have created a well-oiled machine, so I was dishing up in less than 10 minutes. The whir of electric carving knives would be cut every so often with a carver yelling, “Turkey!” – a signal to take another one off the spit.

Plate in hand, I stopped by the lemonade table and spotted Steve Smaaladen, vice chair of the Nodak Electric Cooperative board of directors. As an event volunteer, he was pouring and setting cups as fast as he could. I didn’t want to interrupt his process, so I told him I’d catch him after I ate.

Readers, turkey from the Aneta Turkey Barbecue is some of the best I’ve had. Juicy, smoky deliciousness. It lives up to the smell, and I now understand why people drive 100 miles for it.

After overeating my way to nirvana, I followed Steve on his break from lemonade duty. He had packaged turkey dinners for himself and his wife, Marsha, who was manning their greenhouse stand a block away.

“I grew up in Aneta. This has been going 60-plus years, so you’re a part of it as a kid,” Steve said. “I was on cleanup to start with after high school, and then they migrated me to lemonade, and that’s just where I’ve been.”

Steve isn’t the only Nodak board member who volunteers at the barbecue, and many other Nodak committee members and member-consumers are intertwined in the event.

“At Nodak, we just have a lot of great people, and I think they like to be tied into communities,” he said. “We’re pretty determined not to give up some traditions, not to give up something that draws people back.”

Steve was distracted by two people approaching the stand. “Oh, here’s a couple I just married three weeks ago,” he said, greeting the newlyweds. Apparently he had just been ordained to officiate their nuptials.

You have to love a small town.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The Aneta Turkey Barbecue is the unofficial world record holder for World’s Largest Turkey Barbecue. Organizers hope to make it official with Guinness World Records in 2026.
• In 2021, during Aneta’s 125^th anniversary celebration, the turkey barbeque fed 3,500 people – the most in the event’s history. Usually, around 2,000 dish up.
• Richard Thompson, late husband to Anez and one of the first turkey farmers involved in the Aneta Turkey Barbecue, was also a board member for Sheyenne Valley Electric Cooperative, which later merged with Nodak Electric Cooperative.

MAIN IMAGE: Turkeys continue to roast over the spit as people gather in line for the Aneta Turkey Barbecue on June 21, 2025. (Minnkota/Jennifer Erickson)