Turkey

Tamer Turkman says he doesn’t know any of the details surrounding the latest allegations that Enes Kanter was paid to play basketball in Turkey, but he does know he was surprised Wednesday when he read the news about the Kentucky freshman. “I woke up and was amazed with what I read,” said Turkman, founder and president of International Student Service who lives in Baltimore. “I must have read about 60 or 70 articles about it. I hope it works out, but it sure seems like a big mess today.

For most people, the in-laws, Black Friday crowds and endless football games provide enough untamed excitement over the Thanksgiving holiday. But for those looking to add an extra element of adventure, the answer may rest with one of Kentucky's most popular feathered fauna: the wild turkey. Steven Dobey, turkey program coordinator for Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the state's turkey population hovers around 220,000, and birds are harvested in every county ?

Boxes of frozen turkeys arrived early Tuesday morning at the Salvation Army's Community Center. Most were given away before they had chance to begin thawing. "About 50 people were lined up when we started at 9:30," said Salvation Army volunteer Carroll Perkins, who has been passing out the free birds for five years. All told, the agency handed out 230 turkeys and bags of Thanksgiving fixings to people from Boyle, Garrard, Mercer, Casey and Lincoln counties. All had previously signed up for vouchers and been screened to make sure they met the agency's eligibility guidelines, said Lt. Dan Nelson, leader of the army's Danville operations.

One of these two Kentucky Bourbon Red turkeys became Thanksgiving dinner and one was kept to expand the breeding stock on The Chicken Bristle Farm in Stanford. The Kentucky Bourbon Red is a heritage breed turkey developed in Bourbon County in the late 1800's. The Bourbon Red was a common Thanksgiving bird until the 1940's when it was replaced by the broad breasted commercial birds available today.

What would Thanksgiving be without football? The holiday would be void without a sporting event to kick off a prelude to Christmas. In what has been a tradition for decades, the National Football League provides a dose of the pigskin to swallow in between those turkey feasts with family and friends. Although television picked up on the phenomenon in the modern era, the first professional football game took place on Thanksgiving Day in 1934 when the Detroit Lions kicked off a tradition that has spanned more than seven decades.

A Jessamine County wildlife refuge one-upped the White House tradition of pardoning one turkey this year, "rescuing" two turkeys from next year's dinner table and holding a meatless potluck in honor of them. Wolf Run Wildlife Refuge, which houses wolves, lions, deer, monkeys and others, held the event Saturday concurrently with the opening of Kindred's Antique's new location next to the refuge. The antique shop is owned by Mary Kindred, founder and CEO of Wolf Run. Booths were also set up to sell art created by wolves at the refuge and jewelry made by volunteers.

It is probably safe to say that most homes will be serving turkey this holiday season. The cook in many families has probably prepared this favorite for years and years with recipes and instructions that have been handed down through generations and they, in turn, will hand down to their children. In some homes, cooking that first turkey might even be seen as a rite of passage. Whether you've cooked turkeys for the last 50 years or are just beginning this year, it's a good idea to look at some of the latest safety updates as well as shopping tips.

To receive a few pointers on cooking Thanksgiving dinner Click here . This AP interactive features tips on cooking the turkey, carving it and more recipes.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is seeking opinions from turkey and waterfowl hunters about seasons and bag limits. Department officials launched an online questionnaire at fw.ky.gov to obtain hunter opinions about proposals affecting turkey and waterfowl hunting. The turkey questionnaire asks hunters whether they want to retain the current opening weekend of the general spring season ? currently the Saturday closest to April 15 ? or if they prefer for the season to always start on the second Saturday in April.

This is the last day of the spring turkey season, and I regret to say that my grandson did not get a turkey this year. The morning we were supposed to go it was raining when I woke up, so, not wanting to make it an unpleasant trip, I let him sleep. But as it turned out, that would have been an excellent day to have been in the woods. It stopped raining just after dawn, and it proved to be a beautiful day. A friend told me that he had stopped watching and listening to weather forecasts on TV and radio, saying those two machines had cost him more beautiful hunting days than he wanted to mention.