Family, Food & Football: Tailgaters Enjoy Thanksgiving On The Plains
Thousands of football fans spend holiday tailgating on campus of Auburn University
Thousands have driven to the Plains of Auburn University to celebrate Thanksgiving — tailgate style.
“Heart touching friends, just amazing,” said tailgater Cindy Terry.
Terry has been tailgating in the hay field lot off Donahue Drive for nearly two decades.
“It’s always between 100 to a 150 people in the total tailgate spot,” said Terry.
That spot — called Stollgate — started about 25 years ago.
“We call it our tailgate family,” said Ryan Molt, owner of Molt’s Almost Famous Barbecue.
Chef Molt’s grilled turkey is a hit with the crowd. He says there’s no place he’d rather cook on this holiday.
“You’ve got good food, good people, you’re in Auburn and around the festivities, you can feel the energy in town and everything,” said Molt. “It just makes it really fun and it just feels like a big two or three day party.”
This pre-game gathering welcomes every diehard Alabama and Auburn fan… even those in divided houses.
“We’ve never lost a tailgate, I know that, we have a good time,” said tailgater Chuck Bush.
Bush and wife Judy, Iron Bowl tailgating is a family tradition.
“There will be a lot of good-natured joshing and kidding and elbowing and needling before the game,” said Bush.
Bush say this RV lot might be fairly quiet now, but it won’t stay that way for long.
“It’ll start building more and more tomorrow afternoon as people come in. Saturday morning, it’ll be a madhouse out here,” said Bush.
And these tailgaters wouldn’t have it any other way as they count their Thanksgiving blessings.
“We’re just fortunate enough that we’re able to eat outdoors, so we can really see how blessed we are,” said Terry.
Alabama News Network will have live reports all day on Friday from the Plains, as Alabama and Auburn prepare to square off Saturday in the 82nd Annual Iron Bowl.
