Marsha Gupton
17th November 2005, 08:17 AM (08:17)
The President's Pardon
The animal lovers determined to counter the animal sacrifice introduced the custom of letting a turkey, pardoned by the President of the United States, free to live a natural life comfortably in a zoo at Herndon. This pardon is given at the last minute before the execution of the Turkey in a ceremony at the White House. Here we reiterate the words of the official pardon:
"By virtue of this pardon, (Turkey of the year's name) is on her way not to the dinner table but to Kidwell Farm in Herndon, VA. There she'll live out her days as safe and comfortable as she can be."
It is said that this tradition was first observed in 1947 and was conceived by Harry Truman. After the Turkey gets the Presidential Pardon, it is transported to Kidwell Farm, a petting zoo at Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia to be welcomed as the chief guest along with the President in a Turkey 'Roast' celebration. Here, the Turkey is not 'roasted' in the oven but through humor and turkey jokes. The Turkey gets a new home in the Turkey Barn.
Some of the witty comments that the Presidents of the United States of America have gobbled up of on this occasion are:
"We can all be grateful that there will be one less turkey in Washington." - President Clinton, 1997
"I'm not going to speak too long, because our guest of honor looks a little nervous. Nobody's told him yet that I'm going to give him a pardon." - President Bush, 2001, just before pardoning the Turkey.
"I see the turkey standing there, he looks a little nervous, doesn't he? He probably thinks he's going to have a press conference!" - President Bush, 2002
"In a moment you can come up and welcome our guest of honor, Stars, the turkey. He looks pretty friendly. He actually looks well rested. You'd be well rested, too, if you had your own room in Hotel Washington here in Washington, D.C." - President Bush, 2003
The animal lovers determined to counter the animal sacrifice introduced the custom of letting a turkey, pardoned by the President of the United States, free to live a natural life comfortably in a zoo at Herndon. This pardon is given at the last minute before the execution of the Turkey in a ceremony at the White House. Here we reiterate the words of the official pardon:
"By virtue of this pardon, (Turkey of the year's name) is on her way not to the dinner table but to Kidwell Farm in Herndon, VA. There she'll live out her days as safe and comfortable as she can be."
It is said that this tradition was first observed in 1947 and was conceived by Harry Truman. After the Turkey gets the Presidential Pardon, it is transported to Kidwell Farm, a petting zoo at Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia to be welcomed as the chief guest along with the President in a Turkey 'Roast' celebration. Here, the Turkey is not 'roasted' in the oven but through humor and turkey jokes. The Turkey gets a new home in the Turkey Barn.
Some of the witty comments that the Presidents of the United States of America have gobbled up of on this occasion are:
"We can all be grateful that there will be one less turkey in Washington." - President Clinton, 1997
"I'm not going to speak too long, because our guest of honor looks a little nervous. Nobody's told him yet that I'm going to give him a pardon." - President Bush, 2001, just before pardoning the Turkey.
"I see the turkey standing there, he looks a little nervous, doesn't he? He probably thinks he's going to have a press conference!" - President Bush, 2002
"In a moment you can come up and welcome our guest of honor, Stars, the turkey. He looks pretty friendly. He actually looks well rested. You'd be well rested, too, if you had your own room in Hotel Washington here in Washington, D.C." - President Bush, 2003