It’s going to be a very different Thanksgiving this year for the football-crazed Marengi clan.
For the first time in a very long time, instead of being zoned in on the annual clash against neighboring North Reading, the family will be home, leisurely preparing the Thanksgiving feast, and perhaps taking in an NFL game or two.
There will be no early-morning rush to get the turkey in the oven, set the timer and head to the field at 6 a.m. to prepare for a long day of football.
Mom, Kristine Marengi, is usually the point-person for the pre-game tailgate. She’s been attending Pioneer football games since her family moved to Lynnfield just before freshman year when she was in high school.
“I’ve been going forever, and it’s always been a Thanksgiving tradition for me,” she said. “My parents were members of the boosters, always in the shack at the middle school cooking the hot dogs and my brother played, so football has always been a huge part of my life.
“The tailgating, the game, I can’t imagine what Thanksgiving is going to be like without that. But maybe, for the first time, the turkey won’t be dry or burned, so maybe that’s the silver lining.”
Truth be told, Marengi and husband, David, are fixtures when it comes to football in Lynnfield. From the youth league, right on up to high school, for the past dozen or more years, if there’s a Lynnfield football game going on, chances are there’s a Marengi somewhere in sight.
Normally you’ll find Kristine patrolling the sidelines, taking photos for the team. Instead, she’ll probably be hanging out in the kitchen in her fuzzy slippers, getting a head start on the holiday meal.
“No doubt, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing,” she said. “It will be really different compared to some of the games when it was so cold and we were freezing. It will be nice to stand in my kitchen while my family is all sacked out on the couch. I’m looking forward to having no pressure.”
“Why should this day be any different than any other day,” David joked. “It will be different, but being able to spend the day watching some football with my family all safe and together is how I would define the true meaning of Thanksgiving.”
Sons Cooper, Clayton and Camden are the players in the group. Cooper (LHS ’18) and Clayton (LHS ’20) were back on the field together this past fall as members of the Endicott College football team, while Cam is a Lynnfield High sophomore. All three brothers are three-sport athletes. Cooper and Clayton had planned on reuniting with fellow Pioneer alumni at the game, catching up on what everyone is doing while rooting on their hometown team.
Instead, they will most likely sleep in and spend the day at home relaxing.
“We usually just go home after the game and have dinner with immediate family, but obviously, it’s going to be very different this year,” said Cooper. “Normally the Thanksgiving game is a time to reconnect with your friends, even people you may not have hung out with in high school, and root for your team in your varsity letter jacket, Everyone finds a way to get there and I think that’s because Lynnfield has morphed into such a football town. It’s just fun to finally get back home and hang out with people. This year, there is definitely going to be a huge void.”
Clayton, who had a record-breaking season at quarterback last fall, smashing several school passing records, said it’s going to be “weird.”
“I’ve been either playing or going to Thanksgiving games all my life it seems, at least the last 10 or so years since I was a little kid,” said Clayton, who was the Daily Item Offensive Player of the Year in 2019. “Normally I’m up at 6:30 and hit the field after that, and I was really looking forward to my first game as an alum. I guess I finally have the chance to sleep in and eat, and that’s what I do best.”
Camden, the baby of the family, said the Thanksgiving game against North Reading has always been a part of his life.
“I definitely have been dragged around to games since I was really little, so it will be really strange not having a game to go to,” he said. “I guess I’ll be doing the same thing as my brothers, just sleeping in. I’m just happy that they’re home and I get to spend some time with them. We’ve always been just the five of us for Thanksgiving in part because of football, but it’s still going to be different as you know that for so many people, their traditions have been changed this year. It’s too bad for them, but for us, there won’t be the usual rush and it will be really laid back, and we will all have more time to spend together, so that’s the most important thing.”
For Kristine, one of the things she will miss the most is something she has never seen.
“I’ve accepted the fact that there is no football this year, but I’m still sad that there won’t be a Macy’s Day parade,” she said. “I would have loved to be able to watch that.”
The silver lining in the football-free holiday for Clayton this year is the food.
“Normally my mom is running around doing a billion things, but this year she might be focused more on the food, so who knows how good it will be now that she isn’t rushing so much,” he said.
When asked if he thought the turkey and all the fixings might be a little tastier this year, Clayton replied, “I’ll be the judge of that. I guess without the game, we may find out how good a cook my mom is.”