Friday, November 28th, 2014
Cooper Farms birds pardoned by president
By Nancy Allen
Photo from Associated Press
President Barack Obama, helped by daughters Sasha and Malia, on Wednesday pardons Cheese from the Thanksgiving dinner table during a traditional event at the White House. Gary Cooper, center, chairman of the National Turkey Federation and an owner of Cooper Farms, and his son Cole also take part in the ceremony.
WASHINGTON - A feathered Mercer County native received a pardon Wednesday when President Barack Obama spared Cheese from the Thanksgiving dinner table.
Cole Cooper raised two presidential turkeys from a flock he kept in a specially built barn at his rural Fort Recovery home. Named Virgil and Homer after the man who started Cooper Farms in 1938 with his wife, Virginia, the birds were renamed Mac and Cheese in a social media campaign.
The second turkey was raised as a backup and the two birds will live out their days at Morven park in Virginia, where all pardoned turkeys are taken.
Ohio ranks ninth among states in turkey production. Cooper Farms will provide 5 million of the birds this year. The company operates several locations, including a processing plant in St. Henry and feed mills in Fort Recovery. More than 250 family farmers in western Ohio raise turkeys for the company.
