Yesterday President Obama officially “pardoned” the National Thanksgiving Turkey and the bird began its first class cross country trip to Disneyland. Courage, a 20-week-old, 45-pound tom turkey, will be the honorary grand marshal in the "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” Thanksgiving parade down Main Street, U.S.A. Following today’s parade, Courage and his alternate, Carolina, will find a home at Santa's Reindeer Round-Up at Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland, where they'll remain throughout the holidays and the rest of their lives.

According to a statement distributed by Disneyland, “U.S. President Harry S Truman was the first commander-in-chief to be presented with a Thanksgiving turkey (in 1947) by the National Turkey Federation. This year's presentation marks the 62nd anniversary of a tradition that has continued through 11 successive White House administrations. The 2009 National Thanksgiving Turkey was raised on a farm in Goldsboro, N.C.”

But, according to Wikipedia, the tradition of granting a “presidential pardon” did not become official until 1989 and the first Thanksgiving of President George H.W. Bush.

“The origins of the tradition of pardoning the White House turkey are unclear. Many credit President Harry Truman with starting the informal and lighthearted tradition in 1947. However, the Truman Library says that no documents, speeches, newspaper clippings, photographs or other contemporary records are known to exist that specify that

Yesterday’s cross country trip began in the early afternoon shortly after President Obama bestowed the traditional “presidential pardon” on the big bird. The two turkeys were transferred to nearby Dulles International Airport and boarded United Airlines Flight "Turkey-1" to Los Angeles.

The turkeys and their human chaperones traveled in first class comfort during the cross country flight. Before the flight, Captain Bob Hart of United Turkey-1 said "Flying from coast to coast is a 2,288-mile journey and would be exhausting for a turkey. United is going to make sure that this flight is the most enjoyable and smooth cross-country journey these birds will ever take and a memorable experience for all customers onboard.”

The United flight was a regular commercial flight with other passengers on board. The two turkeys were transported in their shelters safely buckled into their first class seats. “It is a regular passenger flight. The turkeys, along with various Disney and National Turkey Federation people, will be in first class. From there, the turkeys will be loaded onto their personal transport and taken to Disneyland,” said John McClintock, spokesperson for Disneyland Resort.

Joining Courage and Carolina in today’s 10:00 am Disneyland Park parade will be 200 volunteers who, as part of National Family Volunteer Day on Saturday, Nov. 21, packed 20,000 boxes of food for Thanksgiving for those in need. Marching behind a Thanksgiving banner, the volunteers are being celebrated for their spirit of community service, the focus of Disney Parks' "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" program in 2010. Disney Parks hopes to inspire 1 million people to perform a day of volunteer service for a participating organization by giving them a free one-day admission ticket to a Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World Resort theme park.

To participate in the "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" program beginning Jan. 1, 2010, guests can go to www.DisneyParks.com for the United States and Puerto Rico, or www.DisneyParks.ca for Canada, to search for volunteer opportunities available in those areas through a participating organization and sign up for a day of volunteer service. Many of the opportunities will be for projects that most families can participate in together.

Here are the details from Disney:
*Must pre-register and sign up for eligible volunteer opportunity at disneyparks.com. *Ticket quantities for this program are limited.
*Must be at least age 6 to participate.
*One ticket per person.
*Other terms and conditions apply. For details see disneyparks.com in the United States and Puerto Rico. In Canada, see disneyparks.ca.