This year two turkeys from a Walcott farm will go to Washington, D.C., to be pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig stopped Friday at the farm of Ron and Susie Kardel to help send off two toms for the president’s review and pardoning. The Walcott family is the eighth from Iowa to raise the turkeys for the annual pardoning, the Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship tweeted.
Secretary @MikeNaigIA is at the Kardel farm in Walcott today to help send-off two Iowa-grown turkeys to the White House for the Presidential Turkey Pardoning. #IowaAg pic.twitter.com/AhtdMvvSTt
— Iowa Dept of Agriculture & Land Stewardship (@IADeptAg) November 20, 2020
The first Presidential Turkey Proclamation event was held in 1947, when President Harry Truman received a live turkey from the National Turkey Federation, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture. And “pardoning” as a custom began with President George H.W. Bush in 1989. One of the birds will be named the official Thanksgiving Turkey and the other will serve as an alternate, according to an Iowa State University news release. Both will then live out their days at Iowa State — where animal science students, faculty and College of Veterinary Medicine students will contribute to the care — and will be available for public viewing starting at 10 a.m. on Dec. 5.
You can follow the turkey’s on their journey to the White House on the National Turkey Federation Facebook page.
This story originally appeared on the Voice of Muscatine. Read More local stories here.
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