Thanksgiving means it's time for Turkey Bowl

Lisa Quick got to last year's Turkey Bowl in Lisle, but she never made it out of the car.

Her multiple sclerosis had progressed to the point where she needed a wheelchair most of the time.

But thanks to the annual touch football game first organized by her brother 32 years ago, Quick said she's now getting around her home using only a cane.

Money raised at the game -- always held the Friday after Thanksgiving -- provided the $3,900 she needed for the first 12 shots of the SF1019 vaccine, a treatment Quick said is now in the final stages of testing by the Food and Drug Administration.

"This is a godsend. It's amazing," she said. "I'm so grateful. There was no way on earth I could have afforded it on my own."

The game her older brother, Brian, started as a teen with other guys from the Lisle High School Class of '79 for something to do over the Thanksgiving holiday, became a fundraiser for multiple sclerosis shortly after Lisa was diagnosed with the disease.

Over the years, the Turkey Bowl has raised almost $120,000. It supported MS research and an aquatic exercise program before last year when most of it was designated specifically for Lisa.

"Not so bad for just a pick-up game," Brian Quick said. He hopes it will be the same this year.

Turkey Bowl XXXII will be a battle between the Pilgrims and the Indians from noon to 3 p.m. Friday at Benedictine University, 5700 College Road. Players pay $60 each to participate and can just show up.

Other donations are always welcome.

Brian Quick said an average of 30 players have turned out the past few years, including six to eight guys from the original roster. Some are now bringing their own offspring.

"The more bodies, the better. No one will be turned away," he said, adding that a separate game may be organized for younger players.

The first generation of players are quick to admit football isn't getting any easier with middle age. The game used to go on for eight hours.

"That was part of the tradition, to be so sore you couldn't sit down. That gives you a taste of what it's like to have a disability," Brian Quick said.

Jim Dooley of Lisle was one of the original players and came back to the game in the mid-1980s after a few years hiatus. He designs the T-shirts -- this year's design looks like an Illinois license plate -- and plays, even though it gets harder every year.

"I think it's such a good cause," he said. "It's a good group of guys with kind hearts. Most are making some kind of sacrifice to play."

Lisa Quick, a single mom with a 20-year-old son, said the treatment last year's game paid for has given her hope. She found out about SF1019 vaccine on the Web site of fellow MS patient Alan Osmond of Osmond family musical fame.

Lisa went to Mexico for the initial treatment, a cost that was not covered by insurance because it has not yet been approved by the FDA.

Unable to work, Lisa gave up driving five years ago, but she plans to be at the game.

"I have every intention of wobbling my way out there," she said.

For more details or to participate, call (630) 779-4081.