Nation Marks Holiday With Parades, Turkeys

Americans celebrated their 369th Thanksgiving with colorful parades and traditional turkey dinners--along with a few dozen lucky birds who were spared their usual place at the table by a group of animal rights activists.

And less fortunate Americans were not forgotten as thousands of free holiday dinners were given to the homeless and needy around the nation.

In New York and Houston, major Thanksgiving Day parades brought hundreds of thousands of holiday revelers to the streets.

New entries Bart Simpson and Clifford the Dog joined stalwarts Bugs Bunny, Kermit the Frog and other giant balloons in the Macy’s 64th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, televised to about 80 million viewers across the nation.

Foley’s 41st annual Thanksgiving Day Parade rolled down the streets of Houston, with comedian Jerry Lewis as grand marshal.

In Plymouth, Mass., where it all began in 1621, descendants of the Pilgrims and later immigrants took part in the traditional dinner sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce after a Pilgrim’s Progress march in costume from Plymouth Rock to First Parish Church. The dinner for 1,400 at Memorial Hall required two tons of turkeys and four seatings.

A less traditional Thanksgiving celebration staged by a group of animal rights activists in Watkins Glen, N.Y., saw some two dozen turkeys spared their usual place at the table.

“They’ll be the guests of honor,” said Blanche Kent, manager of the Farm Sanctuary, which sponsors the “Adopt-a-Turkey” campaign that has placed 62 birds with animal rights activists.

The turkeys will dine on a meal of squash, pumpkin pie and cranberries, and then be treated to an ankle massage, Kent said, explaining that most of the birds suffer from swollen feet or joint problems “because they’re bred to be so top-heavy.”

In Dallas, Fred, a 2-year-old, 40-pound turkey, was rescued from a date with a carving knife after he was found at a Canton, Tex., flea market and sold for $12 to the Fund for the Animals Inc., another animal rights group.