Hello Hikers!
A number of hikers who told us beforehand that they were coming didn’t show up — a number of people came late because they were waiting to see if the picnic would be cancelled — the swimming activity was subdued — but otherwise the rain didn’t faze us, and we had another great cook-out
In fact the drenching we got just before people started showing up made Roger’s property look unusually beautiful — his GF Gunilla is really turning it into a showplace
Our new chicken cook Randy (and Nancy) reported the Cornell chicken went over very well — moist, tender and flavorful — Randy said the customers liked it
It started to rain again after we’d been there for a while, but lightly, and everyone just took it in stride
I was just heading into the pond for a swim when our food coordinator Liz spotted me and rushed over insisting I needed to have an unposed photo taken by her showing the love handles and the stomach ….
…. luckily I’ve been sticking to my no-corn chips diet, so I feel like I’ve survived another ordeal-by-photo
Here’s another view of the pond — it really looked lovely in the dim lighting
Liz sent me a comment to use in this report:
WOW!
Thank you, everyone, who so generously contributed to the picnic fund. Even with the lower-than-expected attendance, there was enough to pay for the chicken, all other food and beverages, AND the yearly cost of running the hiker’s website!!! Up until now, Steven and Susan have been personally covering the website costs and some of us have been trying to figure out how to repay them. Thanks to your generosity that is no longer an issue for this year. Hopefully, in the future, the picnic will continue to cover the costs associated with managing our wild and wonderful group.
I actually have a little left over. If you care to respond to me personally (elizkyle@gmail.com), I will conduct a survey as to what to do with it. Some options are:
A) apply it toward food for one of our future gatherings (winter-cookout or thanksgiving get-together?).
B) turn it into a gift certificate at one of Steven and Susan’s favorite restaurants as a thank-you for all they do.
C) apply it to next year’s website fees
D) other – please specify
I had a lot of fun today, and I know many of you did too. Thank you.
Liz
I didn’t get an official head count — I normally get the count from looking at the photos, but in this case I hadn’t photographed everyone — I’d say we had more than 60 people but definitely less than the 80+ who were supposed to come
A special thanks to Roger and Gunilla for all their efforts and for letting us get together every year in this wonderful, gorgeous spot
Jack V has photos online you can see here.