The Pardoned Turkeys

We are all now more than aware with all our Indian brethren living in the US of A, that Thanks giving Day is a National Day in the US and of course a holiday, when people gather with family & friends to give thanks for the harvest and the blessings of the past year. It is widely associated with a celebaratory meal where a roasted Turkey is served. Every Thanksgiving while thousands of Turkeys are consumed by families,two birds are officially pardoned by the President of the United States and these two birds live out their life in peace never to be eaten. How did this practise start ? it was early in the 19th century that people sent Turkeys as gift to the President , who chose to spare the birds rather than eat them. In fact the story goes that it was Abraham Lincoln’s son who asked his father to spare a Turkey that was meant to be served at the Table that the idea of pardoning a Turkey started. But it was November 1989 President George HW Bush who started the tradition of Presidential Pardon , so that the birds did not end up being eaten, thus formalising the custom. Ever since then every American President held an annual Thanksgiving ceremony in which two Turkeys were publicly pardoned and sent out to live their lives in a farm. This sporadic act of mercy has turned into a national tradition. Now if you are wondering how these birds are selected , you have a story coming! Every Year the President of the US National Turkey Federation selects a farm in the state the president of the US belongs to raise a dedicated flock of birds of about 20 to 40 birds for the ceremony. They are acclimatized so that they remain calm to the music, lights and noises, which would take place in the Pardoning ceremony. Out of this the 10 – 20 best looking & best behaved birds ,the two finalists are chosen and sent to Washington. They stay at a hotel and appear at media events before the ceremony. It is after that, during the ceremony the two birds are granted the Presidential Pardon to live out their lives in peace in a farm never to be eaten. Incidently the Two Turkeys pardoned by President Trump this year, were named Gobble & Waddle.