Nov. 27, 2025

The terrifying tale of Gerald The Turkey

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac shares five uplifting Thanksgiving stories. Chuck's Fish in Madison offers a free Thanksgiving meal to all, continuing a 30-year tradition. Firefighters caution against kitchen fires and deep-frying turkeys indoors. Dallas' Feed the Streets partners with MLK Jr. Community Center to fight food insecurity with their annual Thanksgiving event. Veterinarians advise pet owners on safe Thanksgiving food for dogs. A troublesome turkey named Gerald harasses park visitors in Oakland, leading to a dramatic capture and relocation effort by city agencies.

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Callaroga Shark Media Happy Thanksgiving. I'm Johnny Mack with five

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the Good News Stories. When Chucks Fish and Madison opens

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its doors today, there will be no prices on the menu,

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no reservations, and no limits on who's welcome. Your restaurant

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is hosting Thanksgiving Day Feast, a free community meal open

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to anyone who wants a place at the table. It's

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running from eleven to three. It continues as a tradition

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that began more than thirty years ago at Chuck's sister restaurant,

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Harbor Docks in Destin, Florida. Chris, who's one of the

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partners at Chuck's Fish, said, my partner Charles, started doing

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it there more than thirty years ago. It's grown to

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be quite a production. They'll serve over two thousand meals

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this Thanksgiving and donate all the proceeds to a local charity.

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Chris says the idea is that Thanksgiving is a time

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when everyone, no matter what life of walk you come from,

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deserves a good meal and good company. You could be

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homeless or a family having trouble making ends meet. You

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could be a student, a worker away from home, or

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family that just wants to come in and eat, and

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I'd have to cook or do the dishes. This year,

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all proceeds from Madison Feast will benefit Madison Visionary Partners.

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Chris says what we don't do is actively ask for

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donations the day of the event. We never want anyone

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to feel obligated. The point is for everyone to sit

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under one roof and break bread together. If people want

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to donate, they'll find us and they'll do it from

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their heart. Chris says there's also a to go option.

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He explains, we make a couple hundred turkey sandwiches for

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folks to take home because for a lot of families,

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that leftover turkey sandwich later in the day is one

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of the best parts of Thanksgiving. Firefighters want you to

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be aware. Let me get the lilt out of my voice,

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because this is serious. Be careful what the deep fried turkeys.

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Officials say. Most Thanksgiving fires begin in the kitchen and

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are often the result of distractions while cooking. The Firefighters

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Association of New York State warns that busy kitchens can

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quickly become hazardous. In twenty twenty three, more than fourteen

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hundred fires were reported of Thanksgiving, the highest number recorded

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on any day that year. Tips include keep the workspace clean,

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turn the pot handles inward, keep plammable items such as paper,

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towels and oven mits away from the stove, keep the

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fire exingnature nearby. David's in the pr for the firefighters

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and says, we want everyone to have a happy and

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safe Thanksgiving. You're coming together family. There's a lot of

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things that can go wrong. There's a lot of things

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that go right. If you're falling proper fire safety precautions,

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you're gonna have a great Thanksgiving. Don't deep fry the

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turkey indoors, they say, do it outside at a safe

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distance from anything they can catch fire. They note that

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placing a frozen turkey into hot oil can cause the

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oil to overflow and ignite if it reaches an open flame.

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Nice job. In Dallas, the Feed the Streets outreach streets

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with a Zee at the end is partnering with the

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Martin Luther King Junior Community Center. It's the tenth annual

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Thanksgiving Blessing event. Founded in twenty sixteen. Feed the Streets

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focuses on addressing food insecurity, homelessness, and community empowerment by

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offering hot meals and emergency support. Nice job by those folks. Hey,

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keep an eye on your pats vets our reminding ped

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owners be cautious about what food you share with the dogs. Okay,

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here's the list. Say sweet potatoes. Yes, sweet potatoes or

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a safe option as long as they're served plain. Doctor

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Gary says sweet potatoes are a great source of dietary fiber,

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vitamin B six, vitamin C, and beta carotene. However, pet

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owners should avoid sweet potato dishes that include marshmallows, sugar

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or syrup. Safe plain potatoes baked or boiled. Not so good.

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Mashed potatoes made with butter, cream, onions, or garlic. Keep

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that off the dog's plate. Safe fresh apples, Doctor Gary

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tells us apples are full of vitamins A and SEA

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and contain lots of great fiber, making them a healthy

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Thanksgiving treat for your pet. However, dogs should only have

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slices with the core and seeds removed. All right, John,

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What about the turkey, Doctor Sarah says, sparingly and only

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a fun seasoned Don't give your dogs any turkey skin

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or bones due to the risk of pancreatis. Wow, And

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doctor Gary says, plain green beans peas and pumpkin all

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safe as long as they're not prepared with butter, spices

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or sugar. I can envision my dog sitting on my

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right hand and right now making that face that they do.

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Like many people in Oakland, sixteen year old Jojo had

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heard plenty of stories of Gerald, the feisty turkey that

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was harassing visitors to the city's Rose Garden. Jojo went

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to see what this was all about and hid behind

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a tree, but Jerald the Turkey soon saw Jojo. The

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birds started stalking Jojo menacingly. Gerald the turkey chased Jojo

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up the hill and out of the park. She lost

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both her shoes in the process. Other reports were similar.

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Jerald the Turkey would spot an unsuspecting victim from across

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the garden. He'd take off running, chasing them away. If

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you stood your ground against the turkey, the turkey would

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mount you and scratch you until you fled. When Gerald

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the Turkey was angry, he puffed off his chest, towering

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over four feet tall, and he was pretty quick. An

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adult male turkey can weigh up to twenty five pounds

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and run it twenty five miles per hour and fly

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at fifty five. Wait, I thought turkeys couldn't fly. Didn't

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we watch that WKRP episode. I can't get into that

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right now. Telling me a story. A debate emer what

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could we do? Should we ban visitors from the park,

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should we move Gerald the turkey somewhere else? Or maybe

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option number three, which we don't even want to talk about.

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Three city agencies in the state Department of Fish and

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Wildlife became involved. An expert animal trapper was called in.

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One group said lose the garden, keep the turkeys. Another said,

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I'm an animal lover, but come on, people. The anti

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turkey people said turkeys aren't even native to California. A

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petition thirteen thousand signatures wanted to save the turkey. The

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other groups posted wanted signs encouraging, you know, not the

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good option for the turkey. Eventually, the decision was made

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to capture and relocate the turkey to a less populate

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part of the city. However, even that was complicated. Reports

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say that staff from Animal Services and the Department of

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Fish and Wildlife used ground nets, net guns, robotic turkey calls,

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and an umbrella painted to resemble a mail turkey. None

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of that worked. They tried leaving out blueberries and almonds.

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None of that worked. They had a call in Wildlife

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Emergency Services. They stalk the turkey. Rebecca works for those guys.

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She decided to act like an old woman. The turkey

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was like, oh, an old woman, I'll attack her. Rebecca

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grabbed the turkey by the neck and explains he had

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this stunned look on his face. I'll never forget his expression.

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It was like he was saying, what me. The turkey

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was moved to a patch of wild land and the

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hills of Brooklyn. Not the worst outcome for a turkey,

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especially on Thanksgiving. And those are your five good news

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stories for today. Happy Thanksgiving.