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A Thanksgiving Day visit to Turkeyville

Patti Cornwell owns Cornwell's Turkeyville near Marshall, Michigan. Photo: Scott Pohl/WKAR
Patti Cornwell owns Cornwell's Turkeyville near Marshall, Michigan. Photo: Scott Pohl/WKAR

By Scott Pohl, WKAR News

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-994854.mp3

MARSHALL, MI –

Turkey is the main dish being served at most homes on this Thanksgiving Day. For one Michigan business, turkey leads the way every day.

WKAR's Scott Pohl visited Cornwell's Turkeyville near Marshall this week for a pre-Thanksgiving talk with owner Patti Cornwell.

PATTI CORNWELL: Well, it's family owned and operated, and we actually started the restaurant in 1968. But grampa Cornwell, Wayne Cornwell, started raising turkeys in 1943. So, it's been a long time. Four generations of family have actually been working here. Gramma and grampa, mom and dad, myself, my husband, my kids, and now I have a five-year-old grandson who helps out a lot.

SCOTT POHL: A five-year-old helping. That's great! Now, on a personal level, you married into the Cornwell family. How long have you personally been involved?

CORNWELL: I started working here when I was 15. We were high school sweethearts, if you will, and so I've always been a part of the business, and somehow I think it's as passionate of a career as I would have ever wanted. I love what I do. I get to do everything! I get to do all kinds of promotions. I have a great product to promote, so it's ideal. I'm really grateful I have such a good job.

POHL: How has raising turkeys changed over the years? People hear about how turkeys are fed so much that they can't even walk or stand any more, that sort of thing. Can you shed some light on what's different about modern day turkey farming from years past?

CORNWELL: Well, our turkey farming is exactly the way it's always been. We set up a great feeding program for our turkeys. It's a whey-based grain, so it has a little bit more nutrients in it, which helps keep it moister, but we've never had preservatives or additives. I think some of the controversy on TV lately or I've seen in the news has been just people concerned that the animals are raised inhumanely. Our turkeys are just raised on a farm like your gramma and grampa would have done it, and a lot of farmers still do it that way.

POHL: Is all of the turkey that you serve here, raised here? Do you have to import any of your turkeys?

CORNWELL: All of our turkeys are raised at a family farm about an hour and a half away from here. Due to some of the state regulations, we've chosen to just have turkeys for show. We have 50 turkeys here that you can just come see and visit, but the farm turkeys are raised at another farm.

POHL: Do they do all their own butchering?

CORNWELL: Yes, we do all our own butchering. It's done just the way grampa Cornwell used to do it in the 60's, so it's still an old-fashioned process.

POHL: Tell me what Thanksgiving Day will be like here.

CORNWELL: Thanksgiving Day, we serve from 12 to 5 p.m. We actually serve family style, so you get the platter of turkey and the potatoes and dressings all served to you right at your table, and it's by reservation. We'll serve about 1,200 people in that five hour period. We seat about 450 people per seating, so it's going to be a busy day, but it's a very fun day. Everyone's really into family, and we're all grateful for all of that.

POHL: When people think about Thanksgiving, they often think about the days after Thanksgiving, and the leftovers. Do they get to take leftovers home when they're here for Thanksgiving dinner?

CORNWELL: No leftovers. We should offer something like that! Great idea! Good suggestion! We should have an additional little leftover package in there!

POHL: Thanksgiving is a day where people build family memories, and for a lot of people, that has become Thanksgiving dinner at Cornwell's Turkeyville, hasn't it?

CORNWELL: Yes, it has. We've always considered ourselves part of many family traditions. We serve multi-generational groups all the time. It's something we're really grateful for. It's a real blessing, because we are family and we work together, so it's nice to see other families gather and come here. Sometimes we talk about having alumni parties, because kids that have worked here when they were kids now bring their kids and their parents and their grandparents, so it really is multi-generational.

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