MARIETTA — Friends gathered for Nelson and Lesley Foster’s annual Super Bowl party Sunday, but admitted there was a bittersweet feeling.

Watching the San Francisco 49ers, who narrowly beat the Atlanta Falcons to advance to the big game, play against the Baltimore Ravens made the game tough to stay interested in.

“None of us really care who wins,” said Mickey King, who lives with his wife, Lyn King, down St. Anne’s Road from the Fosters. “We’re supposed to pull for San Francisco because they beat us, but I’m kind of ambivalent.”

Nelson Foster said the attendees don’t usually stay keenly interested in the game unless it’s close at the end. But a game of squares, where party goers bet a couple dollars on possible scores, keeps the interest level up a bit. But had the hometown team made it, it would have been different.

“Then it really would have been a Super Bowl party,” he said.

Instead the game is more like a gathering for an annual holiday, where friends come back together. Though many of the attendees went to Marietta High School together and still live closeby, King said football is an excuse for rare times when they all get together.

“Football is a big thing that keeps us all connected,” he said. “We get together for a lot of Georgia (Bulldogs) games.”

Many of the families moved away but decided to come back to the area so their kids could attend Marietta City Schools, King said.

The party included food each guest brought. Some brought items like homemade chicken wings, while others grabbed Krystal hamburgers or Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Lesley Foster said she decided years ago to have all the guests bring their own food for everyone to share.

“Everybody is such good cooks, we decided to taste everybody’s food,” she said.

Among the 30 attendees was Marietta City Councilman Johnny Sinclair, who brought pita chips and hummus.

“The Super Bowl is almost as good as a Marietta High School football game, but not quite,” Sinclair said.

The party gives Sinclair a chance to visit with longtime friends.

“I love hanging out with a bunch of people I grew up with,” he said.

The party for Super Bowl XLVII was the seventh consecutive that the Fosters have hosted. They held several more before moving to Pickens County in north Georgia for a few years.

“We call those the dark years,” Sinclair said.