Cooper Farms raising White House turkey

A lucky turkey and an area agri-business official will get to meet President Barack Obama later this month as part of a time-honored tradition.

Gary Cooper, chief operating officer of Cooper Farms, will present the White House turkey to Obama the day before Thanksgiving. The president will then pardon the bird, sparing it from the dinner table.

Cooper is chairman of the National Turkey Federation. The person holding that post has the honor of presenting the turkey, said Cooper Farms spokeswoman Cassie Jo Arend.

"We will pick two birds, based on behavior more than anything and then looks. They have to be well behaved," Arend said. "We have to do training where you put them on the table for the president to pardon. They are 45-pound birds so you need the bird to cooperate with you."

The second bird serves as an alternate just in case something happens to the first bird, Arend explained.

Since early July, Gary Cooper's son Cole Cooper has been raising a flock of about 20 birds in a specially built barn at his home near Fort Recovery, Arend said. The flock will be narrowed down to the most desirable birds as Thanksgiving nears.

Most of the birds are docile since they have been hand-raised since hatching at Cooper Farms hatchery in Oakwood, Arend said.

Gary Cooper will present the bird to the president while Cole Cooper will be the bird handler.

Cooper officials began planning for the Thanksgiving event almost a year ago and timed the birds' hatchings so that they would be of a mature age to strut their feathers.

"We're pretty excited," Gary Cooper said.

Cooper's two sons, Cole and Luke Cooper, will transport the birds to D.C.

"When they arrive on Monday, they will stay at the Willard Hotel, a really nice hotel in Washington," Gary Cooper said. "The turkeys stay in a connecting room to the turkey handler's room."

Gary Cooper said he is taking the entire Cooper family to soak in the experience.

"We've been to D.C. numerous times but never to the White House," he said. "My grandson is turning 1 year old on Oct. 27, and he has been helping his dad, Cole, raise the turkeys. He's about the same height they are now."

Cooper said he's not nervous about how the bird will behave.

"It will all be fun. I'm sure that whatever does happen that we'll add to the stories over the next 10 to 20 years, and they'll be embellished," he said.

This isn't the first time Cooper family members have earned the honor.

Gary Cooper's brother, Jim Cooper, and Jim's son, Greg Cooper, presented and handled the presidential turkey in the 1990s while Bill Clinton was president.

During the next couple of weeks, Cooper Farms officials will open Cole Cooper's turkey barn to area schoolchildren, who can catch a glimpse of the soon-to-be famous birds. According to Gary Cooper, 2,000 students are expected to travel to the farm during the next two weeks to see the presidential birds in training.