Thanksgiving traditions

Today is one of my favorite days of the year, and the official kickoff to the holiday season for me. There are two great events that I participate in every year two days before Thanksgiving - The Derby/Shelton Rotary Club football luncheon and the Boys & Girls Club's Keystone Club dinner for Shelton seniors.

The Rotary club luncheon is a tradition that dates back decades and was preceded by many other similar community events. basically, the Rotary Club invites the coaches, senior members of the the football and cheerleading squads, school administrators and mayors to lunch to celebrate the importance of the thanksgiving Day game. This year the luncheon took on special meaning as Shelton is hosting what is being advertised as the 100th game - that's a story for another day. They have invited anyone who ever played in the game to come on the field at halftime on Thursday to be recognized. At the start of the game, the two oldest living players from both schools who played in the game - Fran Saldamarco of Derby and Jim Braccnaro of Shelton - will toss the coin.

What makes the Rotary event so special is that each team brings back a former player to talk about their experiences. This year Rotary member Jon Wetmore was the speaker for Shelton and Dan Shea was the speaker for Derby, and they both did an excellent and very motivational job. I'm sure their stories will appear on the Rotary website.

The end of the day is just as exciting as the keystone Club members conduct a very special inter-generational event for the members of the Shelton Senior Center. The cook and serve a Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and all the trimmings for the seniors. The Keystone Club has won numerous national awards for their work, but I think that this dinner is one of the best things that they do. I've been fortunate to have attended for about 20 years now, but the tradition goes back much longer than that.

Besides serving the dinner, they also provide the entertainment and conduct a special drawing for a variety of special raffle prizes. It's also the first day of they year for Christmas carols as the seniors condut a great sing-a-long.

What a great way to start the holiday season! My only regret is that it means two big meals on the same day. Oh well, I'll just have to jog a little longer for the next couple of days.

Thank you Derby/Shelton Rotary and the Keystone Club for giving us examples of what we have to be thankful for at this special time of the year.


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.