Oakland leaders honor Milfred, town's wandering rooster, with proclamation

Maureen Jacobson felt the urge to write a children’s book in the fall of 2013, but she didn’t have a topic in mind — at least, not until her family’s pet went missing two months later and his story ended up in a weekly newspaper and on the local evening news. 

Now, the celebrated rooster is the subject of a book, “Milfred Made the News,” and has his own special day — Milfred the Rooster Day, April 14, 2015 — documented in a proclamation signed on his second birthday by Oakland Mayor Kathy Stark.

This feisty rooster was escorted by his owners, Jeff and Maureen Jacobson, into the Oakland Town Commission meeting in time to hear the proclamation read by the mayor.

The vocal and outgoing rooster’s adventure and rise to fame began when the Jacobsons and their daughter, Hannah, returned home from church one Sunday to discover Milfred was not in the front yard. The panicked family searched all over Oakland without luck.

The next day, Hannah went to class and her mother went to work at Oakland Avenue Charter School. Milfred found his way there, too, and tried to get into the front office.

The runaway rooster’s story was shared on a local news station and in the West Orange Times.

And the idea for Maureen Jacobson’s children’s book was born.

“I believe that there are no such things as coincidences,” Jacobson said. “I’m confident that when God gave me the feeling and vision of writing a children’s book … He already had a plan set in motion. Then, when Milfred went missing and was found … the pieces of the puzzle fit together, and I understood what God wanted me to do.”

She wrote the story, former Disney Studios artist Chad Thompson created the illustrations, and the local Legacy Book Publishing printed the book. Its popularity has been steady, and Milfred and Jacobson have been invited to multiple book signings.

In March, Jacobson received news that her book is being added to the Winter Garden and downtown Orlando branches of the Orange County Library System. She has received two awards for the book, as well.

The hardcover book retails for $19.95, and autographed copies are available online from Milfred’s website, MilfredTheRooster.com, and LegacyBookPublishing.com. 

The author is in the process of having her book translated into Spanish, and she is working on the rewrites for Milfred’s second book. 

Contact Amy Quesinberry Rhode at [email protected].