Players gather for the Reilly Thanksgiving Invitational. Photography courtesy of Brent Parrott
Sixty years ago, a posse of seventh-grade boys met at Martha Turner Reilly Elementary School for a game of touch football before Thanksgiving dinner. It was a good day to play — so good that the game continued for decades.
The tradition continued when the teammates graduated from Bryan Adams High School and left for college. Each person was sent an invitation to play football when they returned home for the holiday. The game took a knee in 2009, when the men got too old to play.
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Last year, team captains Brent Parrott and Bryan Renfro shared their story in a new book, “The Reilly Thanksgiving Invitational Story.” To celebrate one year of publication, they are releasing the book as a free downloadable PDF.
“The book has been a critical success, but not a financial success, which is OK,” Parrot said. “Bryan and I created the book because we wanted to tell our story. The digital version is the best reading experience.”
The book can be downloaded at The Reilly Thanksgiving Invitational website. Purchase the PDF and use the code RTIFREECOPY at checkout.
