Category Archives: sporting gear

Gators 13-LSU 3

Following a college football team offers so many opportunities for wholesome family fun. Some of our happiest family memories are set on Norman Field, in Gainesville, tailgating before a Florida Gator football game. For away games, we all crowd together in our living room, cheering, moaning, eating and chasing the babies away from in front of the TV. As was often said in our small town local newspaper coverage of each neighborhood, “A good time was had by all.”

There are also creative opportunities to pursue in the sewing room. The pictured embroidered terry cloth is actually a Martha Stewart dish cloth, repurposed as a tailgating napkin. When I see items in our team colors, I usually buy up everything on the shelf. So our tailgating box has a huge stack of these napkins, embroidered with a free “hungry gator” design offered many, many years ago, and text that names all SEC opponents and various other teams against whom our team has played. The opponent’s name on the napkin instigates a lot of  “Remember LSU 2008? 51-21 Gators! Wasn’t that a great game?”

note wash station on left, at tree

When we have messy food, such as barbecued ribs, a paper napkin just won’t do the job. Wet, these napkins, are much more effective against sticky foods. There is some distance to the bathrooms and running water, so we always take several jugs of water, some with liquid detergent added. I wrap a piece of elastic around a tree, tuck in several Gator hand towels and hang a bar of soap from a ribbon.   This gives everyone, most importantly the cooks, easy opportunity to wash hands before preparing food.

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