Manhattan Beach's very own Thanksgiving Sand Bowl is back this year, and will be held on the beach at 26th and 27th streets from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., says event founder Mark Lipps. The Thursday, November 27 event is open to all ages, and of course those who want to watch.

"Bring your 'A' game," says Lipps. "We will have the flags, football and field marked. Just bring you and yours plus beach chairs, water, bloody marys, etc."

Lipps began the Thanksgiving football tradition in 1998 as a way to work up an appetite for the day's big feast. Last year, the Sand Bowl took a hiatus as the Lipps clan traveled to Boulder, Colorado to spend the holiday in his son's new university town. But the event is back, and all are welcome, says Lipps.
Of its origins, he says, "We do not have any family near us so our Thanksgivings have always been a potluck of guests who want a big traditional, gregarious Thanksgiving. We invite families, couples, young adults who do not have a family to join on that day."

Undoubtedly, those guests have a lot to be thankful for since host Tammy Lipps, Mark's wife, is catering chef extraordinaire of The Ripe Choice.

So, with about 30 guests at his home for Thanksgiving, Lipps did what any gracious host would do: "To kick off the day I started a flag football game at the beach and invited neighbors and friends to play."

The location and time are always the same, says Lipps.

The father of three boys, Lipps has seen the competition evolve over the years. "The LA Times even covered us one year," he fold DigMB. "The kids were very young. We had two fields, one for adults and one for really young kids playing flag football. Later, it morphed into one big field with adults and older kids starting our with flag and then usually tackle by the end of the day."

Lipps says anyone who wants to join should come down Thursday for some fun.