The "The Thanksgiving Turkey From Heaven" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Starting to think about where I might want to buy my Thanksgiving Day turkey this year.  For those reading this who are not United States citizens, the holiday known as Thanksgiving is often traced back to the time when the Pilgrims and Native Americans broke bread together, but the holiday wasn't truly established until 1863 under President Lincoln.  A few traditions continue from that first "feast" in 1621.  One is the gathering of family and friends around the dinner table when a Thanksgiving prayer is offered and the traditional feast is consumed.  For most Americans, that feast includes turkey and all the fixin's.  We in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania are very lucky to have several excellent places to buy a fresh holiday turkey rather than a frozen one.  Places such as Doorstep Dairy in nearby Terre Hill, Lancaster Farm Fresh in East Hempfield Township, Livengood Family Farm in West Lampeter Township, Meadow Run Farm in Ephrata Township, Shady Acres Farm in Mount Joy Township, Weaver's Turkey Farm in Leola, Stauffer's of Kissel Hill Fresh Foods with several locations and my personal favorite, Esbenshade Turkey Farm in Paradise.  

You really can't go wrong with a turkey from Paradise.  Esben- shade's turkeys are farm-raised, broad-breasted, all-natural with weights from 10 to 30 pounds.  The senior member of Esbenshade's is 89 year old Bob Esbenshade who has worked on his family farm for more than half of the farm's existence which dates back to the Civil War.  He still manages the birds on the farm which was founded in 1858 and considers itself the country's oldest turkey farm.  

Bob and his turkeys.  Bob's the one with the blue hat!

He was born on the farm as were his dad, granddad and great granddad.  Today it is solely a poultry producer.  They have produce approxi- mately 8,000 Broad Breasted Whites a year in turkey houses for the past 40 years.  Bob's father used to hatch the turkey eggs himself, incubating then in a garage and the stripping room of the tobacco cellar.  Today the farm, which is on either side of the historic Strasburg Railroad line,  has the birds delivered as poults from a hatchery in Michigan.  

The young turkeys.

They receive the poults a day or two after they have been hatched.  Once on the farm they live in well-lit wooden and cinder-block floor houses and feed on alfalfa hay.  The feed comes from White Oak Mills in nearby Elizabethtown, PA.  They pride themselves on the quality of the birds they sell.  They are grown to 10 to 30 pounds and killed in the fall.  After the feathers are removed, the carcases are drained of excess water in metal-grate wheelbarrows.  

This one has been invited to Thanksgiving dinner!

Then the giblets are stuffed in the bird and the birds are bagged.  A machine shrinks the wrapping around the bird and it is weighed and put in an individual box.  The turkeys are stored in refrig- erated trailers until the customer comes for it.  They only begin to kill them two weeks before Thanksgiving and then again at Christmas.  Bob reported that he has a customer who comes from Illinois to buy a fresh turkey.  Turkeys not sold after the holidays are frozen to be sold throughout the year.  My wife, Carol, usually prepares turkey with stuffing (known to many as filling or dressing), both regular and oyster stuffing, asparagus wrapped in bacon, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn puddin', applesauce, cranberry sauce, warm rolls and pumpkin bread.  For dessert there was always pumpkin pie, cherry pie and ice-cream.  No one ever left the table with an empty stomach!  So, for those whom do not celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving...I'm sorry to say you are missing a great meal with family and friends.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.