The Quaker Ridge Turkey Bowl: Still Playing After All These Years

Group Shot 2022: From left to right Josh Shandel, Ethan Zomback, Ray Grazie(back row), Robbie Birns, Max Warshaw(back row), Harry Roth, Ben Spiegelman, Ross Goldberg, Bryan Gertzog, Matt Jacobs (missing in photo David Spiro (had naming service for baby girl!) , Jeff Hassan, Matty Wolf) (Submitted by Neil Goldberg)
I used to bring my football to the kids Sunday soccer practices when they were in second grade, hoping to meet a few of the dads. It worked well and I went from playing catch to playing short games with the all the other Quaker Ridge dads.

Thanksgiving 2003 -Dads from left to right: Neil Goldberg, David Spiegelman, Gary Gertzog, Ken Grazie, Larry Zomback, Rick Spiro, Doug Birns, Rick Wolf, Andy Parets, Charlie Hassan, Kids from left to right: Jeff Hassan, Robbie Birns, Bryan Gertzog, Ross Goldberg, Matt Jacobs, David Spiro, Ray Grazie, , Harry Roth, Mike Parets and Ben Spiegelman

That year, we decided to play a real game on Thanksgiving Day and hired the coach for the kids after school program to supervise them so we could play while they had their own game. By the next Thanksgiving the kids were making their own teams and talking up the game for weeks before Thanksgiving. For the dads, it became a day to which we all looked forward.

Ben Spiegelman, a former Quarterback for the SHS Raider,s read to pass the ball

Now 22 years later, we are still playing a dads’ game side-by-side to a kids game and in all these years we only missed one game due to snow and one game during the pandemic. Our boys are now 30!

Some are married, one just had a daughter and they are all well into their careers, but we’ve been playing this game since we can remember and have no plans to stop.

The Dads at Thanksgiving 2021