{"id":18588,"date":"2017-11-20T12:02:13","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T18:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=18588"},"modified":"2017-11-20T12:02:13","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T18:02:13","slug":"tom-takes-on-role-as-another-tom-letter-from-the-foundation-of-your-feast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=18588","title":{"rendered":"Tom Takes on Role as Another Tom: Letter from the Foundation of Your Feast"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tom<\/a>
Tom Anselm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Tom Anselm<\/h3>\n

Greetings:<\/p>\n

You may think it a bit odd today, seeing this column space taken up by a guest writer. However, in the interest of fair play, said columnist has graciously agreed to relinquish his bi-weekly ramblings for my benefit. My appreciation is unbounded.<\/p>\n

So, here I am. The foundation of your feast soon-to-be. The main course, so to speak.<\/p>\n

I am Tom Turkey.<\/p>\n

\"jive<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 You also may be wondering just how that name came to be. Well, there is a rumor, rather comical in nature, that my name was originated by Benjamin Franklin. He wanted the national bird to be the turkey, and then-President Thomas Jefferson instead chose the bald eagle.<\/p>\n

So in defiance of this, Franklin named me \u201cTom\u201d. However, it seems to be a product of \u2018fake news\u2019, as no corroboration exists to this effect. In reality, the term \u2018tom\u2019 refers to the male of many animal species. And, truth be told, I am not offended to have lost the title to one of Nature\u2019s most elegant of birds. Can you imagine one such as me flying into a sports stadium, or decorating a coin? Nor can I.<\/p>\n

I actually came to this nation from the south, Mexico to be exact. Domesticated by the Mayans, and migrated northward, through the middle and eastern parts of the North American continent. I populated the heavily forested regions of this land, went as far as the Atlantic Ocean, where I made my most famous appearance in 1621. More on that later.<\/p>\n

I was a very popular and unique bird, with my deep-rich brown tail plumage, bright red facial appendage and unique call.<\/p>\n

Hunters (those devilish beasts!) could hear my gobble a mile away, and so I unknowingly doomed myself to gracing many-a table in brown, crackling goodness. So popular was I that merchants carried my forebears to the Middle East and then to other parts of Europe. Thus, \u2018Turkey\u2019 became my moniker, although I prefer the more accurate Melleagris gallopavo. Just sayin\u2019.<\/p>\n

Now despite that elegant name, I have been cruelly denigrated over the years. Why, I ask, am I so often depicted as a daft-looking idiot in a tall, silver-buckled black hat? And, in the 1970s, things sunk so low as to call someone who was a chump a \u2018jive turkey\u2019. To paraphrase a comedian of the past, \u2018I get no respect.\u2019<\/p>\n

There are a few instances, however, that have salvaged my name, such as referring to getting three strikes in a row in a game called bowling as \u2018rolling a turkey,\u2019 because, apparently, in the late 1890s, this feat was awarded with\u2026 you guessed it, a prize turkey. Pretty cool, right? And of course, we Melleagris\u2019 regained some esteem in 1941 with the onset of a rather high-end Kentucky bourbon whiskey called \u2018Wild Turkey.\u2019 We are a wild fowl, after all.<\/p>\n

Now back to 1621. Plentiful in the region, my ancestors were sought out by a group of religious settlers from England. The native population in that area, in the interest of peace, co-hosted a feast to celebrate the harvest. And so, \u2018a-fowling\u2019 they all went, in search of delicious dinner. Ironically, the legacy of my forebears will forever be linked to good feelings of family and feasting, fellowship and faith.<\/p>\n

Not a bad way to be remembered, even if it means annually sizzling on a platter as Guest of Honor. However, right now this jive turkey must be gobbling along. I see a hungry-looking human on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Happy ME Day, Pilgrims!!<\/p>\n

\"turkey<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tom Anselm Greetings: You may think it a bit odd today, seeing this column space taken up by a guest writer. However, in the interest of fair play, said columnist has graciously agreed to relinquish his bi-weekly ramblings for my benefit. My appreciation is unbounded. So, here I am. The foundation of your feast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,9,13,16,17,39,20,40,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blackjack-spanishlake","category-columnists","category-entertainment-travel","category-ferguson","category-florissant","category-flovalley-sports","category-hazelwood","category-il","category-missouri","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nTom Takes on Role as Another Tom: Letter from the Foundation of Your Feast - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=18588\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tom Takes on Role as Another Tom: Letter from the Foundation of Your Feast - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Tom Anselm Greetings: You may think it a bit odd today, seeing this column space taken up by a guest writer. 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