For the second year running, Gov. Jared Polis pardoned several turkeys raised in the state in a small ceremony at the historic Governor’s Residence at the Boettcher Mansion.

The four birds pardoned, Lady Riketa Featherington, Dinger, Rockette and Fred, were named, “in a fair and free election,” among the Governor’s staff, Polis joked. 

Polis, flanked by Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, First Gentleman Marlon Reis, Department of Agriculture Commissioner Kate Greenberg and a small group of Future Farmers of America, said the pardon highlights Colorado’s agricultural industry’s work in feeding the country.

“I think it’s great, promoting poultry and Colorado ag… We raised about 100 this year and we pulled three we thought were really pretty,” Colby Townsend, who owns Hayden Fresh Farms near Steamboat, with his wife Michelle, said.

The pair drove into town last night and were invited to stay overnight at the governor’s historic Capitol Hill residence alongside their birds. The four feathered favorites will go to Broken Shovels Farm Sanctuary in Adams County to live out the rest of their years.