Bush pardons turkeys
2007-11-21 07:21
Washington - US President George W Bush on Tuesday granted a traditional "pardon" to May and Flower, the latest two turkeys to be spared ahead of the annual Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.
"If you can't take the heat, then you're definitely going to stay out of the kitchen," he told his feathered friends in a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. May and Flower now have a chance to live out a full life rather than become part of the massive turkey dinner served by most US families on Thanksgiving Thursday.
Bush used his address to pay tribute to US soldiers and "working Americans" who contributed to the strength of the US economy.
The names May and Flower were chosen via an online poll, after the Mayflower ship which brought the Pilgrims - who had split from the Church of England - from middle England to the US state of Massachusetts in the 17th century.
A 1621 harvest festival is symbolically viewed as the first Thanksgiving, though there is no record that turkey was served.
May and Flower will next be sent to Disney World, where they will serve as "Grand Marshals" in the amusement park's Thanksgiving Day parade.
Bush said naming the turkeys May and Flower was a big improvement on the suggestion of vice-president Dick Cheney - "lunch and dinner". - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA