Alumni Remember the Thanksgiving Day Rivalry Posts from the FACEBOOK Alumni Pages
West	Laura Dietz Mulholland	The rivalry was very intense! So much so that at the bonfire the night before, we would burn "Minutemen" and all things East that we could!
West	Gary Lusardi	The rivalry was huge. They used to bring in extra grandstands to accommodate the crowds. Used to be played Thanksgiving morning. East dominated the rivalry in hard fought games. West's first win was 14-13 in 1976. I was a Soph on the sidelines. It was very exciting as West came back from a 13-0 halftime deficit. The kids went wild as the game ended.
West	Lauri Howell	Holy hell the mud... I'm convinced the football field mud was just as bad as the practice field mud.
West	Scott Hobbs	Awesome rivalry but all games involving East-West was intense.
West	Joanne Powell	The bonfire was so much fun the night before. I remember having no voice left at all after screaming at the game.
West	Lisa Karapcik Gosh	What great games. Always, whether we won or lost! I remember tearing up newspapers into confetti the night before. Freezing my buns off in a short, short band uniform with white go-go boots. Screaming our heads off at the game. Then, going home to a huge Thanksgiving meal afterward. Such wonderful memories!
West	Gary Lusardi	Each school had their own bonfires. They were sanctioned by the schools. AT West we had it right next to the teachers parking lot. Everyone would attend - players, students and maybe even a coach or two. It was the night before the game and we all enjoyed the huge fire. We had it very year while I was there - '75 to '79
West	Lynda Bennion Clifford	I remember EVERYONE would go. it was cold and the girls in band and I think the cheerleaders wore spider mum corsages. and when we scored they threw gold and white footballs into the stands, my brother caught one my freshman year and I still have it! the bon fires were the best!
West	Jim Worman	One thing folks may not know is on the next day, the West band and the East band would meet up and play tackle football - mud, wet, cold, and assorted injuries - fun was had by all.
West	Kara Sullivan Light	The bonfire was awesome. The band and cheerleaders were there. Coach Maglione would attempt to give some sort of motivational speech which was hard to hear Over the roar of the fire. The week before the game West would have Spirit week and the Powder puff football game right after the East West game in which the girls would play football and the boys were cheerleaders. Your whole Thanksgiving Day was centered around that football game. It was a great tradition that became lost after the merger.
West	Amy Pisani	My family was there from 1970's through 1986 every year. My father (Walter Arbuckle) made that hot chocolate for many a year! Our whole family would go and for weeks before the Homecoming game we would make hundreds of those toilet paper flowers for the homecoming arch. I always lament that my kids will never experience the kind of school spirit that we were exposed to at West. And don't even get me started on the dances!
West	Jeffrey Schiller	Was a senior playing football the first year west ever best east fall of 76 Same year that east bonfire was mysteriously sent a blaze beforehand
East	Carol Smith	Never was a football fan, but that was one game I always went to.
East	Jill Staller	My family always went there every Thanksgiving before going to my grandparents afterwards.
East	Carol Smith	It was always a big deal. Of course, I think the belief was that East always thought they were better than West as we were the "new" school. There was always a rivalry on and off the field.
East	Gayla Zehner Zieser	Amazing games!!!!
East	Gwen Gano	The highlight of every year. B.R.H.S. East won most of the games. It was a great rivalry with many wonderful memories for both schools.
East	Mary Walter	I vividly remember Spirit Week leading up to the big game. The Seniors guarded the bonfire so that the kids from West wouldn't burn it beforehand. One year someone burned an "E" in the middle of the field. In the late 70s, they erected a fence at the 2 ends of the field on the track to keep the fans apart. Is it me or was the rivalry insane? But right after Thanksgiving break, everything went back to normal. It was just that one week.
East	Danene Buongiorno-Smith	I remember Spirit Week too. The bonfire was the best. It didn't matter what grade you were in because the entire student body bonded as "East" for that game.
East	Cheryl Linkus Brickman	Spirit week was so much fun. We (cheerleaders) went out the night before the big game and decorated the football players houses. We made a big poster for the players to run through that said Pluck the Falcons and all the football players dared us to put a big F over the PL. We made the F, but hung it in the locker room for them to get a laugh. My senior year they had said it was to be last game of the rivalry since the schools were combining. There were T-shirts made honoring the last game. That was 85 and it didn't really happen for years after. Thanksgiving was never the same after HS without having the football game to go to.
East	Patti Byrnes Basarab	I was at the game all four years (1970-1973). I went to East but knew so many at West from Hillside. Football then Turkey, it didn't get much better than that!