First and foremost, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from this little column segment of our weekly get-together. Here’s hoping you will enjoy the true spirit of the occasion as you gather with family and friends.

Today most of the populous will write this off as ancient history, but as I recently drove along the West Third Street smooth road surface dissecting the Penn College campus, the thought entered my mind as to ‘what used to be’ in that area now comprised of walking paths, parking lots and educational buildings. On that very site one of the now disappearing great traditions of high school football — the Turkey Day game — was annually played by the Williamsport Millionaires, often against rival Steelton-Highspire.

Pushed to near extinction by the expanding advent of the PIAA state playoffs, Pennsylvania high school Thanksgiving Day games are now something folks talk about as yesteryear lore. It appears the longest-standing such game still played in the state is a contest between Easton High School and Phillipsburg, New Jersey. Separated by the Delaware River, the two rivals have carried on the tradition 112 times.

Some research indicates that the first Thanksgiving Day high school game was fittingly played in the land of the pilgrims in Massachusetts in 1882. Neighboring schools Needham and Wellesley have been the participants ever since, although no games were played between 1950 and 1952.

But before the turkey is consumed, and sometimes afterward, tossing the football around is still a part of many Turkey Day activities. Pickup backyard games are a part of family gatherings. High school friends returning home from college for the holiday break often gather to enjoy each other’s company and play for ‘old time’s sake.’ Many a holiday feast is timed so that guests are able to take in the football feast TV is offering.

One of my most vivid Thanksgiving memories occurred long ago when I was a freshman at the University of Houston. At that time most of the students were commuters, and the large campus was pretty much a ghost town during the long holiday break. One of the organizations on campus sponsored a program for the students who couldn’t go home to match them up with a local family for Thanksgiving. I signed up for the program and somewhat reluctantly waited to see what would happen.

When the holiday arrived my ‘Thanksgiving host family’ picked me up. Small talk occurred while driving to their home when the husband asked if I was a football fan. Replying that I was, he then asked who my favorite team was. Without hesitation, I responded the Baltimore Colts. Not this weekend, he said. In our house, our favorite team is the Dallas Cowboys. Thus began my long-time rooting interest in those same Cowboys.

In an article written by Evan Andrews in 2013, he shed some light on the Thanksgiving football tradition.

“Watching football on Thanksgiving might seem like a modern tradition, but Americans have been taking to the gridiron on Turkey Day since the 19th century. President Abraham Lincoln first declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, and the earliest Thanksgiving Day football games began only a few years later.

“Yale and Princeton first played on Thanksgiving in 1876, during a time when football was still evolving from a rugby hybrid into the sport we know today. The holiday later became the traditional date for the Intercollegiate Football Association championship game. The Universities of Michigan and Chicago also built a famous holiday rivalry, and by the late 1890s, thousands of football games were taking place each Thanksgiving. Included is the longest continuous match-up between Boston Latin and Boston English High schools that have met on Turkey Day since 1887.

“When the National Football League was founded in 1920, it began hosting as many as six Thanksgiving games each year. Today, the NFL holds three Thanksgiving games, two of which always features the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.

“The Lions have been a fixture since 1934 when owner George Richards set up a holiday game as a way of drawing attention to his fledgling franchise, which was often overshadowed by the Detroit Tigers. Richards also owned a radio station, and he used his industry contacts to ensure the first game was broadcast on 94 stations nationwide. The Lions lost that first game to the Chicago Bears, but the Thanksgiving tradition stuck.

“Dallas general manager Tex Schramm followed a similar script in 1966 when he secured an annual holiday game for the Cowboys. The move again proved a huge success, and the Lions and Cowboys have since become as much of a Thanksgiving tradition as pumpkin pie and stuffing.”

At our home, the 2001 Thanksgiving produced another vivid memory. In between the traditional meal and the Cowboys game kickoff, son Doug said he had an announcement. Expecting to hear a birth pronouncement was imminent, he instead informed us that he had joined the military. Now as a Lieutenant Colonel with two tours of duty in Afghanistan, we have added blessings to be thankful for.

Despite the bickering and the uncertainness surrounding us, may you and yours take the time to reflect upon the greatness and sacrifices made by those 1620 pilgrims, and those who have followed in the 398 years since then, to make this a Happy Thanksgiving.