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Minnesota grower takes National Thanksgiving turkeys to Washington
A Minnesota turkey grower is experiencing a Thanksgiving of a lifetime.
John Zimmerman has raised turkeys near Northfield for more than 20 years and currently serves as chairman of the National Turkey Federation.
Zimmerman says one of his duties as chair is to raise the National Thanksgiving flock.
“And travel to Washington, D.C. and present the top two birds to the President, which he will pardon.”
He tells Brownfield the presidential flock hatched in July with 44 birds that were quickly introduced to people.
“As the birds got older we kept handling them, introducing them to different lights and music and sounds, and all sorts of stimuli they might encounter in Washington, D.C. just to get them calm and docile.”
Zimmerman says evaluations continued right up to the week before Thanksgiving.
“Which ones had the nicest head and feathers, nicest tailfeathers. Which ones would strut the best, all in keeping mind which ones were also the most friendly.”
In the end, Peach and Blossom were chosen to meet the President, who picks the names.
“And the reason he chose that is his home state of Delaware, that is the state flower, the peach blossom.”
And Zimmerman says the experience with President Biden is one his family will never forget.
“He gave my son the President’s Challenge coin, my son got to sit in the Oval Office chair. Very personable, nice man to meet. And then we got to walk out with him to Hail to the Chief to the platform where he pardoned the turkeys.”
Peach and Blossom will retire to Farmamerica, Minnesota’s Center for Agricultural Interpretation, located near Waseca, to help educate visitors about the state’s leadership as the top turkey-producing state in the country.
