Minnesota Turkey Makes Governor’s Office Appearance

ST. PAUL (AP) - A 20-pound, 20-week-old turkey from northern Minnesota made a brief stop in Gov. Mark Dayton's office on its way to a typical Thanksgiving fate for birds of its kind.

The unnamed tom turkey was star of the show Monday in the governor's yearly celebration of Minnesota's turkey industry, which leads the nation. Dayton stroked the bird's back for several minutes before sending it on to an unkinder fate with the St. Paul Salvation Army, which plans to make good use of its meat to help feed the less fortunate on Thursday's holiday.

One of the Minnesota turkey's brothers, from a farm in the town of Badger near the Canadian border, got luckier. He is en route to Washington, D.C., for a Wednesday pardon ceremony with President Barack Obama.