By David Weinberg
The kids’ Thanksgiving table has to be expanded.
Mimi and Poppy Weinberg are now proud grandparents to four boys. Whit arrived on Aug. 18, joining brothers Hampton (8), Graham (6) and Nixon (3).
Whenever we host Thanksgiving dinner, children all sit at the same table in the kitchen. Whit will now be wedged into a crammed space that already includes his brothers, parents Kyle and Ashley, aunt Ashley, as well as various cousins.
The tradition began nearly 40 years ago and has never changed. Age, career, social status do not matter. Our son Kyle is a 39-year-old attorney. Daughter Ashley and nephew Charles are both 41 and work in education. Niece Emily is 28 and is a talented pastry chef.
Come Thanksgiving, they pull up a seat next to six children, some of whom still need help cutting their food.
Doesn’t matter.
Once at the kids’ table, always at the kids’ table.
For some local families, Thanksgiving also means high school football, though that tradition is dwindling.
There was a time when almost every Atlantic, Cape May County and Cumberland County team played on that holiday.
Alumni, parents and other fans would pack the bleachers of their local high schools to watch games such as Absegami-Oakcrest, Atlantic City-Holy Spirit, Egg Harbor Township-Mainland, Lower Cape May-Middle Township, Millville-Vineland and Ocean City-Pleasantville.
Some of the games were among the oldest Thanksgiving rivalries on the state.
Millville and Vineland first played in 1864, two weeks after Abraham Lincoln won a second term as U.S. President.
The Atlantic City-Holy Spirit rivalry began in 1926. That same year, travelers first got their kicks on Route 66.
Each game produced memories that were discussed at Thanksgiving dinner for years and decades.
Sadly, most of the games have either been moved to earlier in the season or are not played at all, partially because of the revamped state playoff system.
Under the current rules, high school football regular season begins in late August – it’s not uncommon for teams to play two games before attending their first class – and ends in late October.
It makes no sense.
Winning a state title is great, but very few teams get that opportunity. Nine local teams made the playoffs this season while the others were reduced to playing a meaningless consolation game the first week of November, then turning in their shoulder pads and helmets.
Lower Cape May and Middle Township played the Anchor Bowl in September after not playing at all season. The Caper Tigers’ final game was a 43-40 loss to Clayton on Halloween.
Trick or treat.
But at least they played.
Ocean City and Pleasantville didn’t play, thus ending a rivalry that began in 1917. That was the year the United States entered World War I.
Fortunately, a few teams and towns have managed to maintain their traditions.
Atlantic City and Holy Spirit will play for the 96th time Thursday at 10 a.m. at Holy Spirit’s Ed Byrnes Memorial Stadium.
I covered a few Thanksgiving games as a sportswriter, including Eagles games at Detroit and Dallas.
While exciting, they didn’t compare to the local rivalries. I remember Pleasantville Don Brooks running for something like 800 yards on a Thanksgiving morning against Ocean City. I can still envision the late Ed Byrnes on the Holy Spirit sideline, clad in a pair of gold shorts while snow flurries swirled around him.
But Thanksgiving Football has been a part of my life for almost 60 years.
During my father’s tenure as a high school football official, he frequently took me to games on Thanksgiving morning. My job was to fetch hot chocolate for the officiating crew at halftime.
Once we got home, we had Thanksgiving dinner. For some reason, mom always saved the neck of the turkey for dad.
Stormin’ Norman passed away on Nov. 1, 2014. When I delivered his eulogy, I mentioned that we would always save the neck for him.
A few weeks later, my wife was preparing Thanksgiving dinner and shouted to me from the kitchen.
The turkey had no neck.
But it’s still part of our Thanksgiving, along with the butter shaped like a turkey and displaying a bottle of Manischewitz in honor of my late in-laws, Newt and Shirley.
So is sitting at the kids’ table.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Mainland vying for
state title
Speaking of high school football, Mainland Regional will be trying to win its second straight state championship on Sunday.
The Mustangs (10-3) will face Old Tappan (11-1) at Rutgers University Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Group 3 title game.
Boxing returns to A.C.
Professional boxing returns to Atlantic City on Saturday with a card at ACX1 Studios at the Pier at Caesars.
Pleasantville welterweight Anthony Young (23-3, 8 KOs) will end an 18-month layoff in an eight-round bout against Windry Amadis Rodriguez (10-2, 15 KOs), of the Dominican Republic.
