Sam Enlund
Social Media/Sports Editor
For 117 years the annual Turkey Day game has been a tradition with Webster Groves High School playing against Kirkwood High School on Thanksgiving. However, the tradition is more than just a game.
Different aspects of Turkey Day impact both students and the surrounding community. For weeks before-hand, Webster Advisories participated in contests attempting to win in different categories such as the door decorating, Turkey Day Baskets, trivia and more. Each grade level tries to collect the most points with this year’s winner being the class of 2026.
Having Advisories compete is not just about a friendly competition, or having fun before the game. This year, with the food collected and donated by students, Webster Groves High School was able to feed 30 families for Thanksgiving.
The tradition brings the community together as well. This year Webster hosted both the Chili Fest and a Turkey Day assembly for the community.
About Turkey Day, Parent’s Club president Michelle Willis said, “Turkey Day/Week is a unique tradition. I know the alumni love coming back and seeing old friends and experiencing all of the fun events around It- like Chilifest and the pep rally.”
About the Chili Fest’s attendance and goal amount of money, Parent’s Club member Amelia Heard said, “There were 880 Chili Fest tickets sold, but there were many people that came and only purchased concessions. We estimate 1,000 people participated in the event this year.”
Heard added, “We don’t have the final tally on Chili Fest yet, but our goal was to raise $20,000 this year. It looks like we may have hit the goal, but it will be another week before we know for sure. That is a significant increase over last year.”
The money the Parent’s Club makes is used to fund student scholarships, grants for teachers, the senior graduation party, and smaller things like teacher appreciation gifts and supporting student fundraisers.
Other fundraising events in Webster are the Best Seat at Pep Rally Raffle, and the VIP Turkey Day Package Raffle which includes Best Seats, four tickets, reserved parking, swag bag and snacks. The Best Seat Raffle raised $255, and the VIP Raffle raised $500.
Because of the involvement with the community at the assembly, students are able to have fun and put on a show for family and friends. Senior men are able to dress as “Kirkwood Cheerleaders” and try to perform stunts as a comical routine meant to entertain and bring the community together.
Senior Will Hotze was one student who chose to participate and said, “I think it just ties us all a little closer together. It brings a sense of community because we all have something to stand behind, like our football team. It just helps us come a little closer.”
Aside from the festivities, the game itself, with around 3,000 tickets sold this year, is also important to the district, and not just because of the long history and tradition behind it.
Athletic director Chris Johnson said “Every day in the weeks leading up to the actual game itself we do all online sales or you can come into the building and buy a hard copy, and all of those sales go straight to Webster. In that capacity we probably made I don’t know maybe eight or nine thousand on just our ticket sales. On the day of the game everything gets split up between us and Kirkwood.”
Johnson added, “but financially overall I just think that getting the community out, getting everybody to attend the game, being able to pay police officers to be able to work. A lot of the people internally here get paid to work the day of the game. Then the gate money that’s all said and done we are able to take that and spend that and put it back into our athletic teams and to different activities… so just overall being able to have an event like that does financially benefit everybody involved in it.”
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Sam Enlund-Social Media/Sports Editor This will be Sam Enlund’s first year on ECHO staff. She also made several contributions while taking journalism class her freshman year. |
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