LAKELAND, Fla. — A misplaced turkey quickly found its way into the hearts of one Lakeland community that’s now grieving the bird’s death.
Gary the turkey was found dead during the holidays.
“I saw feathers in the water; I was hoping it wasn’t Gary but it was,” said Lakeland resident and friend of the bird, Will Christian.
Will told me that he and his kids visited the bird every week and sometimes the bird would return the favor.
“I was playing my banjo in the front yard and Gary came right up into the yard to listen with some of his duck friends,” Christian said.
Lakeland community responds to the death of a neighborhood turkey 🦃 See their tribute for the bird on @BN9 pic.twitter.com/dEDqCbtdpy
— Ashonti Ford TV (@AshontiFordBN9) December 30, 2020
Now it’s a much different tune for Christian and his family as they paid tribute to the turkey with one final song.
“I first wrote a song called Gobbled up, to warn Gary to fly away for Thanksgiving but this song is different, it’s a good bye song,” he said.
Christian said he found the bird floating in Lake Morton the day after Christmas. This news upset an entire community which felt connected to the bird.
“Gary was the best thing to happen in 2020,” wrote one person on Facebook.
There is a steel bird wrapped with flowers on Lake Morton in memory of Gary, the turkey.
“I voted Morton but actually revived a hand written note to vote for Gary,” admitted Will.
The bird originally went viral after a community decided to name him.
Some of the options were: Gary, Morty, Turkey McTurkface and dinner.
