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Bidens open final White House holiday season with turkey pardons, Christmas tree and ‘friendsgiving’

Biden White House Holidays President Joe Biden speaks after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkey, Peach, during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Biden President Joe Biden, from left, and chef Robert Irvine serve food at a Friendsgiving event with service members and their families in the Staten Island borough of New York, Monday, Nov. 25 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Biden President Joe Biden, from second left, and chef Robert Irvine serve food at a Friendsgiving event with service members and their families in the Staten Island borough of New York, Monday, Nov. 25 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Biden President Joe Biden, from second left, and chef Robert Irvine serve food at a Friendsgiving event with service members and their families in the Staten Island borough of New York, Monday, Nov. 25 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Biden White House Holidays First lady Jill Biden, right, walks with her grandson Beau Biden after receiving the official 2024 White House Christmas Tree on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm from Newland, N.C., provided the Fraser fir that will be displayed in the Blue Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden White House Holidays First lady Jill Biden, second right, walks with her grandson Beau Biden, right, to receive the official 2024 White House Christmas Tree on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm from Newland, N.C., provided the Fraser fir that will be displayed in the Blue Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden White House Holidays First lady Jill Biden waves as she walks with her grandson Beau Biden after receiving the official 2024 White House Christmas Tree on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm from Newland, N.C., provided the Fraser fir that will be displayed in the Blue Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden White House Holidays The official 2024 White House Christmas Tree arrives on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm from Newland, N.C., provided the Fraser fir that will be displayed in the Blue Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden White House Holidays President Joe Biden, center right, departs with his grandson Beau Biden after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkeys during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Biden White House Holidays President Joe Biden, center right, departs with his grandson Beau Biden after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkeys during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Biden White House Holidays President Joe Biden is pictured after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkey, Peach, during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Biden White House Holidays President Joe Biden speaks and pardons the national Thanksgiving turkey, Peach, during a pardoning ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, as John Zimmerman, chair of the National Turkey Federation and his son Grant, look on. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden White House Holidays Beau Biden, grandson of President Joe Biden, is pictured with the national Thanksgiving turkeys, Peach and Blossom, after a pardoning ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Biden White House Holidays President Joe Biden is pictured with John Zimmerman, chair of the National Turkey Federation, from left, and Zimmerman's son Grant, after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkey Peach during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Biden White House Holidays President Joe Biden pardons one of the national Thanksgiving turkeys, Peach, during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Biden White House Holidays Beau Biden, left, looks at Peach, the national Thanksgiving turkey who was pardoned by President Joe Biden, during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Grant Zimmerman, son of John Zimmerman, chair of the National Turkey Federation, watches at right. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden White House Holidays President Joe Biden stands with one of the national Thanksgiving turkeys, Peach, during a pardoning ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
APTOPIX Biden White House Holidays President Joe Biden, right, stands with John Zimmerman, left, chair of the National Turkey Federation, his son Grant Zimmerman, center, and the national Thanksgiving turkey, Peach, during a pardoning ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden White House Holidays The national Thanksgiving turkeys Peach and Blossom are pictured before a pardoning ceremony with President Joe Biden on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Biden White House Holidays Beau Biden, grandson of President Joe Biden, is pictured with the national Thanksgiving turkeys, Peach and Blossom, after a pardoning ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 President and his wife, Jill, on Monday opened their final holiday season at the White House with the annual turkey pardons and Christmas tree arrival before they hosted 鈥渇riendsgiving鈥 in New York City for members and their families.

鈥淪imply put, we owe you. We owe your families,鈥 Biden said at U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York on Staten Island. 鈥淭hank you, thank you, thank you.鈥

The meal was part of the first lady’s Joining Forces initiative to . 鈥淲ith all my heart, thank you for your service and your sacrifice,” she said before the president spoke.

Both then tied dark aprons with the presidential seal around their dress clothes and joined the chow line, where they served a side dish of roasted Brussels sprouts. Celebrity chef Robert Irvine helped with the menu of turkey, ham, side dishes and desserts.

Earlier at the White House, Biden issued the traditional reprieve to turkeys Peach and Blossom who will bypass the Thanksgiving table to live out their days in southern Minnesota.

He welcomed 2,500 guests to the South Lawn under sunny skies as he joked about the birds’ fates and sounded wistful about the approaching end of his half-century in Washington power circles.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been the honor of my life. I鈥檓 forever grateful,鈥 Biden said of his single term as president. The reins of power will transfer on Jan. 20 to Republican President-elect Donald Trump, the man Biden defeated four years ago and was battling again until he was pressured amid concerns about his age and viability. Biden is 82.

Biden relished the brief ceremony with the pardoned turkeys named for the official flower of his home state of Delaware.

鈥淭he peach pie in my state is one of my favorites,鈥 he said during remarks that were occasionally interrupted by Peach gobbling atop a table to Biden’s right. 鈥淧each is making a last-minute plea,鈥 Biden said at one point.

Biden introduced Peach as a bird who 鈥渓ives by the motto, 鈥楰eep calm and gobble on.鈥欌 Blossom, the president said, has a different motto: 鈥淣o fowl play. Just Minnesota nice.鈥

Peach and Blossom came from the farm of John Zimmerman, near the southern Minnesota city of Northfield. Zimmerman, who has raised about 4 million turkeys, is president of the National Turkey Federation, which has gifted Thanksgiving turkeys to U.S. presidents since the Truman administration after World War II. President Harry Truman, however, preferred to eat the birds. did not become an annual White House tradition until the administration of President George H.W. Bush in 1989.

With their presidential reprieve, Peach and Blossom will live out their days at Farmamerica, an agriculture interpretative center near Waseca in southern Minnesota. The center’s aim is to promote agriculture and educate future farmers and others about agriculture in America.

The also received that will be decorated and put on display in the Blue Room. The 18.5 foot (5.64 meter) Fraser fir came from a farm in an area of western North Carolina that recently was devastated by .

Cartner鈥檚 Christmas Tree Farm lost thousands of trees in the storm 鈥渂ut this one remained standing and they named it 鈥楾remendous鈥 for the extraordinary hope that it represents,鈥 Jill Biden said.

Biden began his long goodbye Friday night with a gala in a pavilion erected on the South Lawn for hundreds of friends, supporters, Cabinet secretaries, Democratic donors and long-serving staff members who came to hear from the president and pay tribute, 鈥 despite Biden effectively being forced off the Democratic ticket this summer and then watching Vice President suffer defeat on Nov. 5.

鈥淚鈥檓 so proud that we鈥檝e done all of this with a deep belief in the core values of America,鈥 said Biden, sporting a tuxedo for the black-tie event. Setting aside his criticisms of Trump as a fundamental threat to democracy, Biden added his characteristic national cheerleading: 鈥淚 fully believe that America is better positioned to lead the world today than at any point in my 50 years of public service.鈥

___ Barrow and Superville reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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