FULTON, Md. — Ahh… the pursuit of a fresh turkey.
“We drove out in our motor home,” said David Mayl.
It’s just the last leg of their 2,300-mile journey.
“And we all quarantined for 14 days before,” added his wife, Barbara.
As the Mayl couple of Phoenix, Arizona reunite with their granddaughter, Rachel.
“We want to be together for the holidays, but we wanted to do it safely,” said Rachel, who hasn’t seen her grandparents since January.
It is that kind of determination that is driving robust turkey sales at Sho Nuf Farm in Fulton where people are on a pace to purchase almost 20,000 turkeys for Thanksgiving.
“We’ve all been pretty well sequestered since March,” said Chris Bohrer, the farm’s owner. “Easter---we kind of let that go. Fourth of July---you didn’t see the big gatherings. Labor Day---maybe there were some outside gatherings, but this is really the first holiday where people can get together as a family and it’s a huge tradition for most families.”
Made a little less big by calls from state and local leaders to cut back on the size of this year’s gatherings to slow the surge in COVID-19.
Demand is still high this year, but it’s changed a bit as have plans for traditional gatherings.
“The biggest change we’ve seen is there are people getting smaller turkeys,” said Bohrer. “and instead of a family coming and getting maybe one large turkey, we’ll have several of the same family members coming to get smaller turkeys.”
For people still looking for that last-minute bird, walk-ins are welcomed.
They’ll be open on Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., but they will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.
