Homer the Allison Turkey’s legacy lives on
Courtesy of Glenna Carter
Homer was infamous for greeting residents when they returned home from work, school or errands. Glenna Carter snapped this photo of Homer in her driveway on Adlin Road.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Homer often nested in the trees along Allison Hollow Road in Chartiers Township. Community members shared photos of a sleeping Homer the Turkey on social media Tuesday morning.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Homer the Allison Turkey was infamous for patrolling an intersection along Allison Hollow Road, where he often caused traffic during heavy commute times. LaVelle Acor said she’ll miss seeing Homer commanding traffic.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
County Commissioner Larry Maggi said during COVID, people wanted to grasp onto something uplifting. Homer survived hunting season and traffic, and he became a legend within the community.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Homer the Allison Turkey often stopped traffic along Allison Hollow Road in Chartiers Township. Along with traffic cop, he also served as the mascot for local fundraisers on social media.
Courtesy of Glenna Carter
Homer often roosted in Glenna Carter’s backyard tree, near Allison Hollow Road in Chartiers. Carter said she will miss the turkey.
He was a polarizing figure.
For every Chartiers Township driver slowed – and frustrated – by Homer the Allison Turkey, another person lauded his silliness on social media.
The turkey – a Facebook sensation – died in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Chartiers police were notified of a dead turkey along Allison Hollow Road just before 8 a.m., said township manager Jodi Noble.
Within an hour, she said, road crews had cleared Homer’s remains from Allison Hollow.
“Everyone had a Homer story,” said Noble. “He did polarize the community, but he did bring the community together to do some good work.”
News of Homer’s death spread quickly on social media, where community members shared photos, videos and favorite memories of the ornery turkey to his Facebook page.
“I’m going to miss the little guy,” said Julie LaVelle Acor, who lives on Adlin Road in Chartiers Township. “He brought me a lot of joy. Me and my girls and my husband, we always laughed. I love that he slowed traffic. It’s a three-way stop sign, most people kind of blow through. He was like a traffic cop. It was pretty funny to see one little turkey command such presence in our little town.”
Homer owned the intersection at McGovern and Allison Hollow Road, and was infamous for strutting into the street and holding up commuters. For at least four years – no one can quite pinpoint the date Homer moved into the neighborhood – the turkey roamed the area, gobbling goodies from local kids, pecking at residents stepping out to grab their morning papers and snoozing in driveways.
“Homer has been roosting in our tree for almost four years,” Glenna Carter, a Chartiers resident, wrote on Facebook. “It won’t be the same without him.”
While most were saddened by the news, his death was not a shock to one woman, who requested anonymity.
“I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner because he really was out there quite often,” said the Houston resident.
Though annoying at times – especially when in a hurry – Homer’s tendency to patrol the intersection was funny, the woman said.
“It sort of freaked me out the first day I ever drove down there and saw a big turkey standing in the middle of the road,” she said. “My husband and I laughed the whole day, thinking, why is there a turkey in the middle of the road?”
Throughout the years, residents have called the Pennsylvania Game Commission to report Homer’s antics. State Game Warden Dan Sitler attempted several times to capture and remove Homer from the area.
“We’ve received several complaints of it harassing residents in the area, even commuters in their vehicles, so it was deemed a nuisance turkey and we were trying to get it out of that area,” said Sitler. “We were never successful in capturing it. There’s a lot of limitations in that area, being as built up as it was with homes. (The turkey) actually knew the sound of my truck somehow and would run or fly away as soon as I showed up on foot.”
And so Homer continued entertaining and aggravating the community.
In 2020, Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi, whose daughter and grandchildren are big Homer fans, pardoned the turkey ahead of Thanksgiving.
“Homer was getting a little publicity. I thought, as a city leader, I’ll just issue a pardon from any Thanksgiving meals,” Maggi said.
He learned of Homer’s passing early Tuesday morning.
“My daughter called me right away. She said, ‘Dad, someone ran over Homer,'” Maggi said. “It’s sad. I just hope someone didn’t do it intentionally.”
Maggi said he always looked for Homer as he drove Allison Hollow Road, and often laughed when the turkey greeted him.
“He grew on everybody,” said Maggi. “He just became a legend.”
And the legend lives on. A vigil commemorating Homer’s life is being planned by members of Chartiers Township, and people are still sharing their favorite turkey moments online.
“Ironically, around Thanksgiving, he would disappear, which was funny,” LaVelle Acor said with a laugh. “I’m bummed. (He) made you slow down in your day and, to me, appreciate the humor he brought to our community. I’m just going to miss him taking control of that intersection.”