Every year, one lucky bird is ‘saved’ by the White House. Where do they go?Associate Press updated 8:33 a.m. PT, Mon., Nov. 17, 2008At Thanksgiving, turkeys are in the spotlight, but not all of them end up on our tables.
One lucky bird is appointed National Thanksgiving Turkey, appearing at the White House and getting an official pardon from the president.
It's the high point of a turkey's career. But once he's whisked off the stage, what happens?
In recent years, the pardoned turkey and its alternate have had the good fortune to retire to the site of many a dream vacation — Disney World and Disneyland.
The first pardoned turkeys to go to Disneyland were Marshmallow and Yam in 2005. In his speech that year, President Bush joked that their retirement location had been changed because the turkeys "were a little skeptical about going to a place called Frying Pan Park," a historic farm park in Virginia that had been the home of the previous honorees.
Disney spokesman Duncan Wardle remembers it a bit differently. One Thanksgiving, chatting about the pardoned turkey over coffee, someone on his staff said, "Doesn't that make him the happiest turkey on earth? We should bring him to the happiest place on earth."
Last year's birds — named May and Flower via online poll — are currently living the good life at Disney World in Florida, where they were flown by a United Airlines flight that was renamed "Turkey One" for the occasion.
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Isn't this amazing? I never knew they did this. I suppose though that not every turkey has to be dinner for somebody at Thanksgiving.
