The Men's Association of Garden City presents the fifth annual father-son football classic Sunday, Dec. 9 at St. Paul's field. The games will start at 11 a.m. and conclude at 4:30 p.m. Six father teams will compete against six son teams in a three-game series for the highly coveted championship trophy.

You must be pre-registered to play and must RSVP by Nov. 30 to be eligible for the draft lottery and formation of teams. The trophy presentation and closing ceremony will take place immediately following the tourney at 3 p.m. This year's guest of honor is Firefighter Rich Chiarello, who will be joined by the NYPD Pipers as they play several patriotic tunes.

Those interested in playing or volunteering should call Dan Donnelly at 746-5166 or e-mail Donnelly at dancool3@aol.com. You can also call one of the captains listed below:

Son Team		Captain		Father Team	Captain
Sooners		Joe Howard		NYPD Blue		Bob Buser
Crimson Tide	Sean McEntee	Fire Dept.		Scott Goodnough
Fighting Irish	Connor O'Brien	Softball Dads	Bob Cole
Trojans		Kevin True		Football Dads	Ron Haase
Buckeyes		Dan Bilewich	Soccer Dads		Ken Colucci
Nittany Lions	PJ McAward	Basketball Dads	Dan Donnelly

NY Jets kicker John Hall hosted the Salvation Army Angel Tree Kick-Off at Roosevelt Field Nov. 13 where ordinary mall patrons were touched by angels when they picked tags from the Salvation Army Angel Tree to purchase gifts for underprivileged children.

Salvation Army Major Olivia Gulley was on hand for the day's festivities as well as The Salvation Army Hempstead Brass Ensemble, which performed holiday selections.

More than 4,000 children and senior citizens will receive gifts from this program. Volunteers are being sought to sit at the trees, ring the bells at kettles and to hold food and new toy drives.

On Sunday, Nov. 11, the undefeated 7 and 8-year-old Thunder Football Team concluded its season by hosting their most formidable opponent, the Elmont Cardinals (6-0). Fittingly, the game was staged on Championship Weekend where Garden City played host to the Nassau County Youth Football League playoff games and the season's largest crowd.

Both teams' "will to win" was evident early on as demonstrated by the hard hitting. The defenses dictated field position for the first several possessions, but late in the first half the Elmont Cardinals broke open a long TD run. Down 6-0 at the half, the Thunder found themselves in a familiar situation, of which they had overcome twice before.

The Thunder defense had allowed only one second half touchdown this season and would be challenged once again to deliver a second half shutout. Confident and focused, Garden City took to the second half determined to give it their best and leave everything on the field. Following a tremendous defensive stand on Elmont's opening possession, a determined Thunder offense took to the field. Utilizing an effective mix of inside and outside running plays the offense engineered a sustained, time consuming scoring drive that resulted in a 6-6 tie.

The defense, as in the past, would again be relied upon to get the ball back for the resurgent Thunder offense. Through its fast team pursuit, hard hitting and gang tackling, the relentless Thunder defense shut down the Elmont offense forcing them to punt and setting the stage for the Thunder's last grasp for perfection. With a little over two minutes (running time) remaining in the game and no time-outs left, the Thunder offense caught the Cardinal defense by surprise with a spectacular 50-yard quarterback bootleg touchdown run that sent the Garden City crowd into bedlam, providing the Thunder with a dramatic 12-6 victory.

Such an inspired victory was the result of the boys' hard work and dedication, dating back to Aug. 4 on the hot and humid fields of St. Paul's where the 8 returning veterans from the 2000 season were joined by 24 new players. The team practiced every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday straight through the season with only one missed practice, due to rain. During the season, in addition to the Thunder's 9 league games, the team scrimmaged some of the toughest teams in Nassau County, including the Uniondale Knights, the Baldwin Bombers and multiple occasions with the nearby Mineola Chiefs.

During the season the boys grew as a team. Their undefeated season and the several come-from-behind victories best exhibited their team play, perseverance and maturity throughout the season. Over the course of the season, the Thunder offense scored 25 touchdowns while the Thunder defense yielded only 8. The coaches and parents of this Thunder team are extremely proud of all the boys.

GC	12	Franklin Square	0
GC	21	Floral Park		0
GC	13	Farmingdale	7
GC	14	Franklin Square	13
GC	27	Valley Stream	14
GC	20	East Rockaway	0
GC	33	Franklin Square II	7
GC	12	Farmingdale II	6
GC	12	Elmont		6