Local fans host 51st annual Grey Cup party
CBC News
Posted: Nov 23, 2012 12:35 PM ET
Last Updated: Nov 23, 2012 3:17 PM ET
A group of die-hard football fans plan to host a party and watch the 100th Grey Cup Sunday as they have been every year since 1962. (CBC)
A group of die-hard football fans plan to host a party and watch the 100th Grey Cup Sunday as they have been every year since 1962.
The 51st annual tradition is happening in Tecumseh as the Toronto Argonauts take on the Calgary Stampeders.
John McNaughton is one of the party organizers and said he recalls the first game, known as the "Fog Bowl," when Winnipeg battled Hamilton. The game was suspended in the 4th quarter and finished the following day because of dense fog.
Back in 1962 when the tradition was born, McNaughton said everyone was in their 20s. Eventually everyone got married, had children and moved away, but the group still manages to get together every year for the Grey Cup.
Some years attendance was up to around 100 people, but over the years the numbers have dwindled. On Sunday McNaughton expects nearly 40 friends.
"When you go through the pictures you feel a little lugubrious because there are a lot of faces in there that are no longer with us," said McNaughton.
Bleachers on the lawn, TV in the window
One year a bleacher was set up outside the house and the big-screen TV was placed in the window to watch the game.
"I really didn't point it out until it came time for the game and we told everybody they had to bundle up and go outside and sit on the bleachers. It was great," said Colleen Greer, who hosted that party in 1974.
Greer said many neighbours and onlookers were scratching their heads as they passed until they realized it was a Grey Cup party.
"They had no idea. They said they don't understand what happened because every once and a while people on the [bleachers] outside your house stood up and cheered," said Greer. "And wondered why they thought your house is so special, but they didn't realize there was a TV in the window."
The group of friends never thought this tradition would carry on for half a century.
"We kind of hoped our kids and grandkids would pick it up and that's been a little bit of a disappointment because that hasn't happened," said McNaughton. "The old-timers will still carry on the tradition."
The party has been hosted at different friends' homes across southwestern Ontario including Woodstock, Toronto and London, Ont.
Each year it rotates to a different host. Next year the party will be in Grand Bend.
"We go year by year at this point, but I don't see any end to it," said McNaughton.
Both Greer and McNaughton said they'll be rooting for the Toronto Argonauts on Sunday.
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