Two Lucky Turkeys Saved from the Thanksgiving Dinner Table
Governor Kay Ivey Hosts the 70th Annual Turkey Pardoning
Two lucky birds are escaping the dinner table this Thanksgiving, thanks to Governor Kay Ivey. Monday Morning, Ivey hosted a long-time tradition, the annual Turkey Pardoning, at the Governor’s Mansion.
Clyde and Henrietta are the thankful turkeys that will be heading back home after Ivey proclaimed “by the power vested in me, I hereby pardon you from the Thanksgiving dinner table and hope that you will spend the rest of your days together in happiness and peace on the Bates Family Farm”.
Both turkeys come from the Bates Family Farm, which supplies the Bates House of Turkey in Greenville. Clyde and Henrietta will be steering clear of the dinner table from here on out because their pardon lasts a lifetime.
If you’re wondering how the pair got so lucky, Becky Bates Sloan of Bates Family Farm says it was their good looks that caught her attention.
“We kind of see who kind of looks the best, you know” she explained, “I hate to say it’s a beauty pageant but it kind of is” adding that she was very happy with this year’s choice because of how “well-behaved” the turkeys were during the ceremony.
The Turkey Pardoning is now a 70 year tradition. According to the governor’s office, the Bates family has provided the turkey to be pardoned every year since 1949.
