Belle River residents pay tribute to town's mascot
An esteemed wild turkey known to keep traffic in line has been the talk of the town in Belle River.
But after years on duty, the Belle River bird, 'Tommy the Turkey', was hit by a car last Thursday and died.
“He’s Belle River’s mascot, he’s so beloved,” Lorri Horton said.
Now, residents are paying tribute.
“Belle River‘s mascot ‘Tommy the Turkey’, the dude with an attitude Rest In Peace,” Horton read from a memorial sign.
“Tommy is basically an icon in the Belle River area,” Dave Hunter said.
With his own fan page, ‘Tommy the Turkey’ was known for his antics and pecking at cars.
“He did do traffic control too so if people are going fast down the road, Tommy kind of popped out and slowed people down. So I guess you could say he did make the community a little safer,” says Robb Meloche who created ‘Tommy the Turkey Spotters’ group on Facebook.
“He didn’t care he would just stand right in front of your car, you could lay on your horn you could do whatever he was not going to move whatsoever. He moved at his own pace with his own will and that was it,” says Horton.
Tommy the turkey’s burial sight in Lori Horton’s Belle River, Ont. backyard on Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (Alana Hadadean/CTV Windsor)
“Everybody fell in love with this turkey. He would hold up traffic sometimes hours and people were so patient. That’s why it was such a shock to hear his passing,” Meloche said.
Even eulogized by the Mayor of Lakeshore, “his confident strut and pecking reminders for drivers to slow down have been a source of entertainment and community pride,” said Tom Bain.
“It’s a bird that has grown into people’s hearts and have adopted him, something very, very special,” said Hunter.
Hunter created a video tribute in the bird’s honour, which had more than 5,000 hits the first day.
“It was just something I did to pay respects to the bird. It was an unfortunate accident what happened and tragic cause there’s lot of kids that follow the bird,” Hunter said.
A burial site was also created in Horton’s Belle River backyard, open for public visits.
“I thought we would do a nice memorial and make a sign. I put rocks and shells from the beach there,” Horton said.
There’s even talk of Tommy t-shirts being made.
“His passing has shook the town so much that people are actually making big stickers to go on your vehicle, ‘Rest In Peace Tommy, you were one bad dude’ and t-shirts with stop signs on them,” said Meloche.
Many hope another turkey comes into town and picks up where Tommy left off.
“That way it gives people something to look forward to again. As time goes on, they’re going to start to miss Tommy even more. We just kind of want the legacy to live on,” said Meloche.
“I think what we consider little annoyances in life sometimes become people’s biggest blessings. I really think he was a blessing to Belle River and he’s going to be greatly missed for sure,” Horton said.
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