'Pumpkin' And 'Pecan' Head To Disneyland

On a day when most of his cohorts ended up on the dinner table, Pumpkin a Tom Turkey, pardoned by President Bush in an elaborate ceremony on Wednesday, strutted his feathers as Grand Marshal, in a live televised Thanksgiving Parade at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim .

While the age-old tradition has been in place since President Harry Truman pardoned the first turkey in 1947, the trip to Disneyland is a new tradition that started four years ago.

20-week old, Pumpkin and his friend Pecan, who also received a Presidential pardon, started their adventure with a police escort to Washington-Dulles airport. Here they settled down in the first-class cabins of United Airlines flight Turkey-1, for their 5-hour journey to their new home at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Accompanied by Paul Hill, the Chairman of the National Turkey Federation and his family, Pumpkin then led the special Thanksgving parade on Main Street U.S.A.

After that, he and Pecan settled into their new new home at Santa's Reindeer Round-Up at Big Frontierland, where they will spend the rest of their days, hobnobbing with the other famous residents. To view Pumpkin and Pecan's thanksgiving parade go to http://www.disneylandevent.com/turkeycam/. Happy Thanksgiving!

Source: Disneyparkresorts.com