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GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — High school alumni celebrated their alma maters Thursday morning throughout southern New Jersey, although Thanksgiving day football games may not have been at the forefront of their minds Wednesday night.

So what was?

Depends. For 28-year-old Absegami grad Christin Fenton, it was a fuzzy navel. Dean Stephenson, 22, sipped Yuengling with former classmates from Ocean City High School.

And multiple Mainland Regional High School graduates headed to Somers Point to down what was likely the last of their pre-Thanksgiving zombies at the Pearl, which will take its signature drink with it when it shuts down as part of the Route 52 causeway project.

Most high schools schedule homecoming weekends, but many alumni instead reunite at local bars the night before Thanksgiving, and the party often lasts into the next morning.

Fenton and her six-person entourage expected to miss the 10 a.m. kickoff for the Braves’ match against Oakcrest High School — They would still be sleeping off their reunion at the Blue Marlin in Galloway Township.

“When you’re 19 or 20, your homecoming is the game,” Fenton said. “After you’re 21, your homecoming is at the bar.”

Bar manager Art Lesdirel, also a ’Gami graduate, likened the evening instead to an extended tailgate for the Thanksgiving day football games that mark homecoming weekend at some high schools.

“There are plenty of people who go to football games the next day. Going to the bar is not the homecoming,” Lesdirel said.

Others, however, hadn’t a clue when or where to catch today’s battles among long-standing rivals.

Fenton’s group of friends included Charles Weeks, 30, who attended Holy Spirit High School in Absecon but grew up in Galloway and chose the Blue Marlin over Maynard’s Cafe in Margate. Weeks played football for the Spartans but said he did not intend to check out the game against the Vikings of Atlantic City High School. As far as Weeks knew, those who drink rarely go.

“Everyone’s usually too hung over from the night before,” he said.

Stephenson likewise opts to hang out with friends the night before Thanksgiving. He may consider going to the game as well if he could drink at a nearby bar, but that’s impossible in a dry town such as Ocean City, he said.

Plenty of people share Stephenson’s priorities for the start of the holiday season. The evening provides the opportunity for a mid-week party without having to worry — in most cases — about work the next day. Even former classmates who see each other frequently take advantage of that, Lesdirel said.

Lesdirel and his staff do a brisk business on Thanksgiving eve, which he said stems more from sheer volume than individual generosity, although long-lost friends or former regulars sometimes tip extra.

“Everybody meets up just to see old friends ... who live in different states, maybe across the country,” he said.

And they seem to know where they have the best shot at doing that. Stephenson could not fully explain how, exactly, he knew to go to Yesterday’s in Upper Township. Fellow Ocean City alumni also filled DiOrio’s Circle Cafe in Somers Point until 1 a.m. Thursday, when a brawl and subsequent police response propelled patrons to the Anchorage. There, they mingled with Maynard’s-bound Mainland grads who also may have stopped earlier at Gregory’s Restaurant a block away.

James Kisgen, 28, said osmosis — or maybe it was mass-texting, or Facebook — directed him and his friends to Yesterday’s, which remained packed with Ocean City grads well past midnight Thursday.

“Everyone knew to go here,” said Kisgen, who lives in Santa Monica, Calif.

Twenty and 30-somethings dominated most watering holes by then. But the hairstyles of some Yesterday’s patrons suggested a wider age range: some thinning, others gray or white, and a few 1985-nostalgic blends of bleach, teasing and hairspray.

On the adjacent porch, a live band muted conversations among its markedly younger spectators.

A small crowd spilled into the parking lot, too.

Some people were making out and smoking cigarettes on the blacktop as if they were outside a house party with curfew fast approaching. Kind of like high school.

Contact Emily Previti:

609-272-7221

EPreviti@pressofac.com

3 comments:

• occopsridiots (53) posts 12:59 am

  Lets promote blatant alcholism great story by the DE Press of Frantic City. My bet is the grey haired goons at Yesterdays getting loaded and no doubt driving home included more than one Ocean City Cop. What a loser of a story saying how cool it is to drink like a moron til you puke.

• STONECRAB (47) posts 7:07 pm

  CHARLES, AFTER DRINKIN ALL NIGHT THE NEXT MORNING YOU WILL BE THE FARTIN SPARTIN !

• charlesweeks (1) posts 4:34 pm

  CORRECTION Last night, I was asked if more people planned on meeting at a bar the night before Thanksgiving, or if more people met at the Thanksgiving day game. My response was that for the people who do go out the night before it is unlikely they would go to the game because they would be too hung over. I never said that "no one" goes to the Spirit/A.C. game, obviously that is far from the truth. While the Press reporter was young I would still expect some level of professionalism. This story may have been difficult to write, but embellishing quotes to make the story more interesting is inappropriate and can hurt the character of those involved. Please either remove this article or correct the story to include the proper quote. Charles Weeks

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