Bonnie the Pig need never fear the breakfast table.
The two-and-a-half-month-old purebred Berkshire gilt received an
official pardon Friday from Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, sparing her
the threat of ever ending up slathered in gravy on a biscuit or
wrapped around a cocktail weenie.
The gubernatorial intervention was part of the lead-up to the Blue
Ribbon Bacon Festival, a daylong celebration of the deliciousness
of Bonnie’s kin.
“Now, therefore, I, Terry E. Branstad, governor of the state of
Iowa, do hereby proudly proclaim Bonnie the Pig free from the
sizzle of the frying pan for this year’s Blue Ribbon Bacon
Festival,” Branstad said authoritatively from the front steps of
Terrace Hill.
Bonnie let out
a squeal — presumably of relief — as he read the proclamation,
drawing a big laugh from what must have been an intimidating crowd
of humans preparing for a day-long celebration of bacon preparation
and consumption.
Among them
were a group of Icelandic bacon enthusiasts in matching sweaters
and the owners of a Denver bacon-making outfit, who were delivering
to Branstad a gift of cured pork from Colorado Gov. John
Hickenlooper.
Bonnie was
selected from among several pigs in a pen at a farm in State Center
on Friday morning — primarily because she was the easiest to catch,
said farm owner Randy Hilleman.
She returned
to the farm on Friday afternoon with immunity.
“She’s going
to go out in the green pastures of Marshall County and live out the
rest of her life,” Hilleman said.
