To see a video about the history of Thanksgiving :
http://www.history.com/minisites/thanksgiving
THE ANNUAL PARDONING OF THE THANKSGIVING TURKEY BY GEORGE BUSH
Every year, on the eve of Thanksgiving, in a ceremony at the White House, the President of the United-States pardons a turkey, which means the bird is not killed and eaten.
The animal is chosen from a different farm every year, among a group of birds hatched in April. In August, when the toms ( = the male turkeys) have reached 11kg, six of the most beautriful birds are selected. For four months, they are periodically petted and hand-fed so that they get used to humans.
The week before the presentation, two toms are chosen. They are brought to Washington DC and prepared for the Ceremony. In the meantime, thousands of Americans vote for a name on the White House website, names like Stars and Stripes, Pumpkin and Cranberry, Freedom and Liberty. This year,the names chosen were May and Free. On the day of the Ceremony, the larger and more colourful of the two birds is brought to the White House and hoisted on a pedestal in the Rose Garden, to become the National Thanksgiving turkey.
During the Ceremony, the President pets the bird, makes a few jokes and photos are taken. Afterwards, this year, the pardoned turkey was put in a plane and it travelled first class to Los Angeles where it will live peacefully ( in Disneyland ) until its death ( which usually occurs within two years ).
See the video of President Bush pardoning the 2007 Thanksgiving turkey :
To learn more about the history of presidential pardon :
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/tgturkey2.html
3 commentaires:
Thanksgiving, translated in French is called "Jour de l'Action de Grace", is always celebrated the fourth Thursday of November. After Thanksgiving, everybody gets busy putting up Christmas decorations. Americans are very big on outdoor lights to celebrate the Advent of Christmas. I will see if I can find some nice Christmas pictures to send you. Some houses are almost decorated too much. Although, with the price of electricity, I am sure some Americans will have to limit their decorations. Anyway, I am going to send you an article on Christmas next with some nice pictures.
This I did not know! You always learn something new on this blog. Anyway, this tradition is quite extravagant and I have never heard anybody mention it to me before. The White House must have kept it hidden from the public, probably to avoid drawing any further criticism. It would be nice if president Bush would be so magnanimous as to grant amnesty to the millions of poor immigrant workers compelled to live illegally.
This is a funny pic! lol
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