The time is high noon on Thanksgiving Day. Unopened cans of gravy and vegetables line the counter top. A turkey sits on the table, uncooked and untouched. The dinner table is not set. The house is empty. All around the United States, stressed out mothers are preparing their feasts. But while they are waiting for a timer to sound for their turkey, residents of Kirkwood and Webster are watching a different clock tick down: a scoreboard.
Since 1907, the Kirkwood Pioneers and Webster Statesmen have faced off in a Thanksgiving Day football game. The game Nov. 22, 2012, will mark the 105th year since the first Turkey Day game, still standing as the oldest current Thanksgiving Day football rivalry west of the Mississippi River.
However, Turkey Day is not just about the game for the two schools. Both Kirkwood and Webster hold a series of events leading up to the historic rivalry game.
“It’s bigger than just a football game,” Dr. Michael Havener, KHS principal, said. “It’s the month leading up to the actual game. It’s that homecoming. A time where we can come together and celebrate as a community.”
While there are lost records of the scores of the games from the early 1900s and years where there was no Turkey Day game at all, the game has not lost its luster.
“[When thinking of Turkey Day], I think of two very interested and active schools,” Matt Irvin, KHS head varsity football coach, said. “It’s something that both communities, schools and people involved in the game will all remember.”
The ultimate goal for those involved in the game, and for the fans too, is for their team to win. The school that wins gets the Frisco Bell, a 400-pound bell donated by the Frisco Railroad Company in 1952. Since 1952, the loser has received a prize as well. At first, this prize was the Little Brown Jug, but it has been replaced by the Continental Jug.
However, gaining the Frisco Bell is not the only incentive a team would have for winning the game.
“It’s the last game you’re going to play,” Irvin said. “It sets the tone for the months afterward and the off-season to follow.”
Thousands of Kirkwood and Webster fans pack either Lyons Stadium in Kirkwood or Moss Field in Webster to experience this final game of the season. In 1994, Havener attended his first Turkey Day game. He said he was in awe the entire day, from breakfast until bed.
“I’d always heard of Turkey Day growing up,” Havener said. “But hearing about it and experiencing it are two very different things. It’s an experience everyone should take part in.”
With the change in classes for schools’ athletic programs, Turkey Day maybe the only time the two varsity teams face off. Since the high school football playoffs run past Thanksgiving, the varsity teams are unable to play if they have not been eliminated yet. In this case, the JV teams compete.
No matter which level plays, the Turkey Day game is scheduled for Nov. 22, 2012, at 12 o’clock noon. With bragging rights on the line, both schools have one thing in mind and it is not a Thanksgiving dinner.
“Beat Webster,” Havener said. “That’s all I would say.”
