A REAL TURKEY
Board members, fans face the end of decades-long Thanksgiving Day tradition
POTTSTOWN » Traditions that stretch back nearly 60 years do not die quietly.
This year will be the 59th year the Pottstown Trojans will play the Owen J. Roberts Wildcats in a long-standing Thanksgiving Day football tradition. It will also be the last. Changes in the PIAA rules governing how and when football games can be played and when players may practice for winter sports have resulted in the decision to end the tradition, Steve Anspach, Pottstown’s director of co-curricular activities, told the school board Thursday night.
Anspach said in addition to the changes, the football season now ends a week earlier. He said athletic officials appealed the PIAA decision in order to be able to keep the tradition alive, but PIAA voted against the appeal.
Some Pottstown School Board members were not happy, and neither were members of the OJR’s Bucktown Boosters who were at the audience to demonstrate that displeasure.
“It was a bolt out of the blue,” board member Polly Weand said of the prior committee meeting at which Anspach broke the news.
Since news of the end of the Thanksgiving Day game became public in The Mer-
cury, Weand said she has been contacted by numerous people unhappy with the termination of the tradition.
“I’m taking a lot of heat for this,” Weand said. “I can’t even go into Redner’s without being attacked.”
She argued that since the matter was discussed in committee, it should have been brought to the board for a full vote.
But board member Ron Williams reminded Weand that Anspach had warned earlier of the potential the pending PIAA rule changes had to play havoc with the Thanksgiving Day game.
“This was not a shock,” said Williams.
Board member Kurt Heidel agreed, saying he remembers conversations about this a year ago.
“The only thing we can truly do is advocate to PIAA and say this is not fair. That’s our best chance,” said board Vice President Emanuel Wilkerson.
“Anyone who has lived in this town knows what a big deal this is,” said Board
President Amy Francis, “but we don’t want to get board into the position of deciding on games.”
“The league has made it more difficult, not anyone who is sitting around this table,” Francis said.
Clad in a bright red OJR booster jacket, resident Jeff Moses spoke on behalf of a group of Bucktown Boosters, and outlined what he said were viable schedule
changes that could be put into place to allow for the game tradition to continue.
“The kids don’t need to practice every day,” said Moses. “This affects the community, the kids, the cheerleaders, the band, the bonfire, the Touchdown Boosters who have a breakfast at 6 a.m. for the kids.”
“This is set up by the PIAA for the big schools for the playoffs,” said Moses. “We got beat by Downingtown East, if we would have won, we would have been hammered by Coatesville, then we would have been hammered by North Penn. Guess what? We’re not going anywhere,” said Moses. “The best game in town is the Turkey Bowl with Pottstown and Owen J.”
No decision was made by the board Thursday night.