Wow! We had 135 people come to FLRC’s Annual Picnic at Treman State Park last night, and it was a fabulous time—thanks for joining us. Last year’s picnic was the largest that we have recorded with 83 people, so 135 is not only a massive new record for the picnic, it’s larger than any of our previous winter Annual Meetings as well. It was a good thing we moved from Upper Buttermilk to Lower Treman since there wouldn’t have been anywhere near enough parking or space at Buttermilk. My main regret was that I didn’t get a chance to talk to more people.
Luckily, Jacob Marnell of Fittnell Farms brought extra food beyond the 120 people we’d estimated so I hope no one went hungry. Jacob’s food was scrumptious, and I’ve heard from quite a few people who really enjoyed it. We cruised through all the beer and nearly all the soda too—get those RSVPs in next year so we have a better idea of how much to buy.
We arranged for Jamie Love to take photos at the picnic, so if you were there—and particularly if you won an FLRC Challenge sign—be sure to check out her lovely photos. Lots of great shots and you’re welcome to download them for use on your holiday cards or whatever else.
The running gear swap table suggested by Scott and Amy Dawson looked like it was a huge success, and we’ll definitely be doing that again in future years.
Finally, huge thanks to everyone who helped out. Gary McCheyne picked up the drinks (harder than it sounds once you realize how much drinks for that many people weigh!) and brought and set up the PA system. Steve Shaum and Steve Desmond and Jim Miner helped me move picnic tables closer to the pavilion. Tonya Engst handed out medals and shirts. Kris Haines-Sharp (Diversity Committee chair) and Pete Kresock (VP of Trails) helped with the presentation. And Steve Shaum and Dave Kania and Gary and Tonya and a few others pitched in to clean up at the end—with special appreciation for Jamie Loehr for disappearing the trash bags to his dumpster.
Thank you again to everyone who helped put the picnic together! My kids had a good time and plenty to eat, the picnic was great way to wrap up the Challenge, and Jamie’s photos do well to capture the atmosphere and the spirit of the evening. And apologies to anyone I had half a conversation with before bolting away to chase down a child or two. For better or for worse, those little guys are fast!
Was the picnic date changed at some point? I had it in my calender for today Friday at Upper Buttermilk. I think I put it into the agenda because of an invite to which I RSVP some time ago. I had not visited the forum for a while, so I didn’t (until now, until I went to the park office at Treman) find out that I had the date wrong. Maybe just my mistake but I thought I had put a calender item in response to an e-mail, and hadn’t seen any e-mail about a changed date. Maybe yet another senior moment.
Ach, sorry! I don’t think there have been any typos on the date, but it’s not impossible. My guess would be that you somehow got last year’s date into your head when putting it in your calendar, since last year’s Thursday night was the 26th.
I also had Upper Buttermilk as the location. I thought I had auto-entered it from a calendar invite but I guess not. Oh well. The FL Parks got my $9 at lower Treman. For Buttermilk I had parked off-site below and walked up the hill for a bit of pre-picnic workout. The shelter was occupied by Park Scholars. The FL Parks guy was there checking parking, he told me to go to Treman. The confusion was that the pavilion at Treman was for runners (Monster), finally at the park office I saw the schedule and all became clear.
If only you’d driven to the park in your DeLorean, you could have gone back in time to last year’s picnic, which was on August 26th at Upper Buttermilk.
