MONTHLY | Bone Vivant
TALK TURKEY TO ME A CHAT WITH A GENTRY FARM TURKEY
G
obble! Gobble! I can’t wait until Thanksgiving! All the family is together and there are yummy things to eat… My Momma is careful about what I can have, but I do get certain yummies on Thanksgiving. I used to love turkey too but, now that I know one, I don’t want turkey on Thanksgiving anymore! Turkeys are nice birds! Truman the turkey is a resident of Gentry Farm, in Franklin. I chatted with him about how he feels with “Turkey Day” around the corner, and he had quite a bit to say.
Ollie: Since you don’t have anything to worry about on Thanksgiving, what do you enjoy most about the holiday? Truman: We do tend to be celebrated quite a bit on the holiday and leading up to it. Even though Pilgrims didn’t even have turkey at the first Thanksgiving, we have become synonymous with the holiday. People even decorate with turkey décor! Ollie: You have wings… Can you fly? I only see you walking around. Truman: I can fly, good sir! I can make my way to branches and
get from one side of my pen to the other in flight… But I cannot fly like an eagle – if that is what you are asking. We can fly up to speeds of fifty-five miles per hour and run up to twenty-five miles per hour! Ollie: I feel you are very misunderstood birds. What would you like the readers to know about you? Truman: Presidential pardons for Turkeys became formalized in 1989. I wish more people – not just the President – pardoned us from being on the Thanksgiving table. That would be something and sure would make our feathers relax this time of year! Ollie: I hear that Benjamin Franklin once said the turkey was “a much more respectable bird” than the bald eagle. What do you think about that? Truman: I would say that Benjamin Franklin fellow was one smart man. I believe we would have been good friends. Happy Thanksgiving, folks! And pardon that turkey this year!
-Ollie Pup
