Woodruff football co-captain and author Robert L. Sulaski will transport football fans through 59 years of Peoria Thanksgiving Day football games on Monday, November 21 at 6:00 p.m. at Peoria Public Library North Branch with photos, headlines and tales of the games won and lost.

Sulaski, a member of the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame, memorialized the long tradition of holiday football games in Peoria in his book 59 Years of Drumsticks and Pigskins after a group began holding reunions of Turkey Day participants. He has collected the stories by Peoria’s sports writers, complete with headline, as well as numerous photos. Catch glimpse of early players with no helmets grappling on what was to become the site of the Bradley University library. Team photos and tales of football heroics continue through 1973 when the tradition ended.

Over the years, paid attendance for the 73 games totaled 350,000. Players went off to war, became community leaders and brought their own sons to watch and then play in the games. Sulaski knows the stories of the teams, the coaches and the players who participated and his photos will bring the stories to life at this free presentation that will be enjoyed by all ages. Call 309-497-2021 for more information about the program.