This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Recent Alums Continue Homecoming Tradition

WHS alums Scott Saggio and Don Williams share their experience of returning to Westfield for Thanksgiving now that they live and work out of state

Along with the multitude of college students who return home to Westfield for Thanksgiving break, there are also many other recent Westfield alums who now live elsewhere who make the trip home to see family and reunite with childhood friends.

Don Williams and Scott Saggio of Class of 2004 both live and work in the Washington D.C. area, but spend their Thanksgiving in their home town. Williams has worked as a consultant for IBM and lives in Alexandria, VA, while Saggio lives in Washington, working as a video game tester for Bethesda Software in Maryland.

"It’s always good to see the family and catch up with friends during Thanksgiving break," Saggio said.

Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Both make the trip home because they find it is the one time that they are returning to the town they grew up in.

"Unlike other holidays, typically everyone likes to come back to where their roots are on Thanksgiving," Williams said. "I have a group of friends who have been together going all the way back to elementary school and I look forward to seeing them every year."

Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Among the highlights of Williams and Saggio’s trip back home is a football game they play in with several other childhood friends the day after Thanksgiving in . This tradition began many years ago when they were in the Westfield school system, and they will sustain it for as long as they can.

"We’ve played that football game for at least the last 10 years, and it’s something I look forward to every year," Williams said. "So much of my life has changed, but the game is one of the constants."

The group is not the only one of WHS alums to come together to play football on Thanksgiving weekend. On Saturday, a group of 1987 WHS graduates continued their with a game at .

When Williams and Saggio come back to Westfield, they also like to patron the local restaurants they grew up around. Williams insists upon eating pizza from one of the Westfield's many Italian restaurants during his trip home. Meanwhile, Saggio likes to get food from during Thanksgiving break.

"I try to go there as much as possible when I’m home," he said. "It was a frequent destination when I was younger, and the food is still as I remember it."

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?