Minnesota Turkey to be pardoned at White House Ceremony (Thanksgiving 2013) -- from Google Blog News

from Obama Food-o-Rama -- blogspot dot-com: A tom from Badger, Minnesota, will be offered a holiday pardon from President Barack Obama next Wednesday, Nov. 27 during the 2013 National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation. The bird has been raised by fourth-generation turkey farmer John Burkel, current Chairman of the National Turkey Federation, which annually orchestrates the ritual. The White House tradition, started in 1947, is now in its 66th year. A second tom will also receive clemency from President Obama; an alternate always accompanies the principal to the White House, in case anything should go awry. The toms hatched on July 8th, and are part of a six-member Presidential Flock that Burkel has honed from a group of eighty original contenders, said Lara Durben, a spokesman for the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association (MTGA). Burkel annually raises approximately 70,000 turkey hens for Northern Pride, Inc., a grower-owned turkey processing facility in Thief River Falls, founded in 1989. The White House honor is big news for the tiny town of Badger, population 375 in the 2010 census and located in the farthest reaches of rural Minnesota in Roseau County, just miles from the Canadian border. But offering Presidents fine young toms is now a longstanding tradition for the North Star State, the nation's largest turkey producer. Burkel and his turkeys will be the twelfth team of Minnesotans honored with a White House visit. http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2013/11/president-obama-to-be-presented-with.html