Turkeys Go Off to College After Presidential Pardon
By Sam HoisingtonNovember 22, 2017
Drumstick is “pardoned” by President Trump before moving on to Virginia Tech.Evan Vucci, AP Images
What’s a turkey to do after being chosen to meet the U.S. president and appear on national TV? Begin life at college, it seems.
In a lighthearted show of amnesty every November since 1989, the president has “pardoned” a Thanksgiving turkey. Now the tradition includes sending the birds to the farm facilities of Virginia Tech, where they can reside in leisurely style for the rest of their days.
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Drumstick is “pardoned” by President Trump before moving on to Virginia Tech.Evan Vucci, AP Images
What’s a turkey to do after being chosen to meet the U.S. president and appear on national TV? Begin life at college, it seems.
In a lighthearted show of amnesty every November since 1989, the president has “pardoned” a Thanksgiving turkey. Now the tradition includes sending the birds to the farm facilities of Virginia Tech, where they can reside in leisurely style for the rest of their days.
Each presidentially pardoned turkey has an understudy for the big day, and beginning last year, the star turkey and its sidekick have been brought to the university.
This year’s turkeys, Wishbone and Drumstick, were pardoned by President Trump on Tuesday. They will join Tater and Tot — spared by President Barack Obama last year — in a special enclosure, away from other poultry at the farm.
Tater and Tot are minor celebrities on the campus. Rami Dalloul, an associate professor of animal and poultry sciences, says that thousands of people have visited the two turkeys over the past year.
When prospective students are touring the agriculture facilities, there’s usually a stop at Gobblers Rest, as the VIP turkeys’ enclosure is known.
“People come in, and they take selfies and take pictures,” says Mallory White, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of animal and poultry sciences, who helps care for the turkeys.
“They’ve been around lots of different people,” Ms. White says of the birds. “They’re not afraid of people. They just want to be pets, and they really like to show off a lot.”
When visitors show up “and they start asking questions,” says Mr. Dalloul, those in charge of turkey care at Virginia Tech don’t waste the opportunity. Staff members talk up the university’s research and the turkey industry at large.
