Man Drives Hundreds of Miles for KFC, and Love

Fried chicken is an anniversary tradition
By Luke Roney,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 25, 2016 7:44 AM CDT
Man Drives Hundreds of Miles for KFC, and Love
True love.   (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

Mike Hovak wanted to get married at an annual talent show held in Kugluktuk, Canada. "I figured we'd win first place," he tells the CBC, and the whole community would be in attendance. His bride-to-be shot down the talent show idea, but Angela Hovak let Mike choose the post-nuptial repast as a concession: "I let him have his KFC," which was sent in frozen from a franchise in Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories. That was 15 years ago. And each year since, the couple, who now live in Yellowknife with their three sons, have eaten KFC on their anniversary. But this year, keeping the tradition alive required an 870-mile round-trip drive as the only KFC in Yellowknife closed last year after 47 years in business. "But my husband didn't hesitate," Angela says.

In March, Mike and one son drove to the KFC in the town of High Level, some 435 miles away, picked up 15 buckets of chicken, and headed right home. Regarding his order, Mike says, "They said: 'Uh,' that might take a little while." As for the drive time and the $600 in fuel and chicken, it was "worth every penny," Mike says. "We have to keep traditions alive." Other recent news about KFC hasn't been so heartwarming. A woman dining last week at a KFC in North Carolina discovered a chicken kidney in her order, the Lincoln Times-News reports. KFC apologized, though it informed everyone that eating a fried kidney poses no health risk. But, a rep concedes, "we agree it was not appetizing." (Seeking comfort food after a breakup, a woman went to KFC … and stayed a week.)

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