Muddy Fun at Hoog Park Turkey Bowl

For the 10^th straight year, a handful of families turned out for the Turkey Bowl, a pickup football game held on Thanksgiving.

Tim Dalton reports that it was the first time two games were held because his kids are getting older but the younger kids keep coming. In the past few years it’s been one 20-on-20 game with boys and girls ages 4 to 18.  This time the unofficial cutoff was at middle school age; kids could play up with the big kids or down with the younger ones. The older division on Thursday had about 20 kids this year, Dalton said.

“As all-time QB Dad for one side, I just say ‘get open’ and try to make sure everyone gets a chance to catch one,” Dalton said. “It’s pretty chaotic but still I see plenty of smiles on the their faces.  Of course, when they come back to the huddle they always say they were wide open.”

There is a nucleus of eight families or so whose kids keep showing up year after year. 

“We even had a family who had recently moved to London check-in to see if we’d be out there this year,” Dalton said.

Anna Curtis said the gathering has become such a tradition that people put off preparing their Thanksgiving meal in order to watch their kids.

The rest of us bring our lawn chairs and sip hot chocolate," Curtis said. "It just would not be Thanksgiving without our Turkey Bowl!"