Thanksgiving(s) of Old…Well, 50+ Years Ago

Sister’s House – Citrus Heights, CA

Thanksgiving, as I have written before, has always been a huge family gathering day even well before I discovered that my Dad has 3, or is it 4, ancestors who were on the Mayflower.  I cannot remember Thanksgivings where it was just mom, dad and my brothers and sister … it always seems that we got together with many relatives, and throw in a few church friends now and then too.  Not sure what the largest gathering was…it seems there was one at our house which mom forced me to walk to when I was not even eight yet (wrote about that a few blogs ago) that we had 25 people at it…give a person or two.  Of course, as a young kid, you think things are much bigger than they really were.

Thanksgiving has always meant FOOTBALL.  In Sacramento there was a Thanksgiving Day High School Football game between Sacramento High (where dad graduated from) and C.K. McClatchy High (where my oldest brother graduated from...and yes, as in McClatchy Publishing-Newspaper business.)  I don’t know why we went to one of these games, but we did, or at least some of us.  Not sure mom went, not sure sis went…but I know I was there.  But the REAL football games that I recall were the ones which we played about a half mile away from the house at the Sewage Treatment Plant…well, actually land which was adjacent to the Sewage Treatment Plant.

Above is a current Google Image of the sewage treatment plant (now called the City of Sacramento DOU – Department of Utilities).  The plant was about half the size it is now…perhaps even less than half, and is that large area to the right of the green circle in the picture.  The “green circle” is where the large lawn was located that we played football on Thanksgiving morning.  We would gather all the kids in the neighborhood, even calling up a few would lived outside of the neighborhood, and have a giant football game.  We also used the same property to play baseball sometimes.  One time while we were playing some kid, who was near the bottom of the circle while we were playing where that white building is located in the circle, yelled and asked if he could play.  Someone yelled back, “Sure, come on down.”  Back in those days there was a trench which transported the water from the plant to a lake down past our house.  We continued to play, and after a batter or two we wondered where this guy who wanted to play with us went to…until we see him climbing out of the trench.  He did not know about the trench, and was running to us watching the play continue and yep, he ran himself right into that sewage treatment water.  We told him that he could still play…but he had to play right field for both teams…which is where the wind was blowing out to.  Surprisingly, he said ok, and that is what he did.

   

And every once in awhile…someone’s Birthday falls on Thanksgiving.  That happened 50 years ago, and it happens again this year, and it has happened a few times in between.  Hope YOU ALL have a nice Thanksgiving…I know I will, even as I creep closer and closer to Medicare…