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Special to The Birmingham News

November 20, 2009, 1:14PM

Clyde No. 60, won’t get the chop-chop, Gov. Bob Riley says. (Alabama governor’s press office)Gov. Bob Riley pardoned a Thanksgiving turkey on Friday as part of an annual tradition in Alabama that dates back to 1949.

The event, held at the governor’s Montgomery mansion, marks the 60th time an Alabama governor has issued a pardon for a turkey — always named Clyde — provided by Bill Bates of Bates House of Turkey in Greenville.

“Thanksgiving is a unique American holiday,” Riley said. “It’s a time when we can pause and thank God for all the ways he blesses us. The beliefs we hold and the values we live by are what have made this state and this country so great for generations. Alabamians are such compassionate and generous people, and I’m proud to see those values carried on by the next generation as shown by the children here today donating blankets to the less fortunate this holiday season.”

In recent years, first lady Patsy Riley also has used the occasion to
promote “Blankets with a Blessing,” her effort to collect blankets for
the needy as winter nears.

Thousands of blankets have been distributed to the less fortunate at women’s shelters and homeless shelters throughout the state, Mrs. Riley said. Attached to each blanket is a piece of paper with a blessing and a Bible verse.