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OK, so maybe it's not breaking news. "Chicken Washington" has been sitting on a Grove Avenue windowsill for about a year now. A few ants almost had their way with the fried Founding Father last summer, but dad quickly stuffed him in the freezer to save face. He's been "rock solid" ever since, Fan resident Victoria DeRoche says.
DeRoche's son, Alex Aracri, 12, discovered Chicken Washington at the Carytown McDonald's in a 10-piece Chicken McNugget value meal in April 2007.
The likeness is stunning, and Chicken Washington has been quite a conversation starter at parties. So of course the McNugget of our country had to be put on eBay. To date, the bidding's up to $6, "and that's mostly because my mom is bidding on it," DeRoche says.
She hadn't thought much about promoting Chicken Washington -- other than starting a MySpace page -- until she read stories about Cheeto Chuck Norris and recent media darling the Illinois-shaped cornflake (which netted $1,000 on eBay), found in Virginia.
Is it authentic? The proof is in its durability, DeRoche says. A year later, it still looks edible. "Since it hasn't had any kind of decomposition," DeRoche insists, it's clearly a product of McDonald's.
The family's all smiles for now, but what if Chicken Washington starts generating real bids on eBay? Alex may have discovered the McNugget, but his sister, 15-year-old Elena Aracri, paid for the McNugget meal. Elena says she's happy splitting the proceeds with her brother, because "I probably would have ate it."
But if the real money starts rolling in, look out. Mom says it would be a shame if Chicken Washington, in all his infinite wisdom, were to divide the family.
"As the father of chicken nuggets," she says, "that would be the last thing he would want to happen."
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