Starting in 1947, a new custom of presenting the White House with a turkey for Thanksgiving (the last Thursday in November) began under President Harry Truman.

George H.W. Bush instituted the turkey pardon as a permanent part of the presentation beginning in his first year in office – 1989 – in response to protests from animal rights activists! Since then, at least one of the turkeys presented to the President has been taken to a farm where it will live out the rest of its natural life.

From 2005 – 2009, the pardoned turkeys were sent to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, where they served as the honorary grand marshals of Disney’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! Last year, Virginia Polytechnic Institute received the 2016 pardoned turkey!

Eventually, I managed to capture on camera the wild turkeys strutting around our RV park in Colorado Springs. I saw nine of them together but was unable to get them to pose for a group picture! My beloved former neighbor, Ron, who knows all things turkey, tells me that “Tryone” is a young bird and that he will get bigger in size and weight, but that right now, he would make for some good eating!

Tryone is seeking the 2017 Presidential Pardon to live out the rest of his natural life as a “ward” of the Krywanio Family!

Tryone and his buddies strutting around our RV park in Colorado Springs!