Union Lodge No. 5’s Summer Picnic beats the heat!

With the sun blazing and temperatures nearing 90 degrees on Saturday, July 16, Union Lodge No. 5’s Summer Picnic was bound to be filled with lots of food, terrific fun, and several ways to beat the heat.

Some new easy-to-setup tents purchased for the picnic by Worshipful Brother Domenic Corbo through the Fellowcraft Club were set up to provide additional areas of shade (thank you WB Corbo!).  Worshipful Brother Doug Burchard also helped with the setup and rigged a large tarp in front of the big tent for even more shade.  The tarp also had the effect of diverting wind downward, creating a natural fan effect and helping to keep everyone cool.  Several brothers and friends helped with setup and takedown, and with so many helping hands the work went quickly, leaving more time for fun and fellowship.

Responding to requests for a few specific dietary requirements, Senior Warden Tom Burke expanded the picnic menu to include a variety of options for nearly every palate—from traditional burgers to turkey burgers and veggie burgers, from traditional hot dogs to chicken hot dogs and turkey hot dogs, beef bratwurst, cheddar bratwurst, and barbecue chicken breasts.  Going beyond traditional side dishes, picnickers had their choice of broccoli slaw, summer slaw, red potato picnic potato salad, Italian vinaigrette pasta salad, a huge green garden salad, and five different kinds of potato chips.  Dessert included a gigantic seeded watermelon (seeded watermelon being preferred over seedless as it is much juicier and harkens back to traditional picnic fare—plus it lets picnickers practice their seed-spitting skills!), assorted cookies, brownies, and several kinds of ice cream treats such as Klondike Bars and Drumstick cones.  Past Master Worshipful Brother Sal Florio brought a carton of gourmet Italian cookies from his own bakery, “Golden Glow Cookie Company Inc.”, located in the Bronx, New York, which everyone raved about—and which quickly disappeared.

Several visitors to the picnic including some men who are interested in freemasonry were shown inside to see the lodge building itself and to learn more about Union Lodge No. 5.  Brothers spent time talking to them about our lodge and the many programs we are involved in throughout the community.

With a desire to cool off, several attendees manned the water balloon filling station throughout the day.  Kids used the water balloons for their batting practice, resulting in huge sprays of water and some complete soakings before the big afternoon Wiffle Ball game led by Worshipful Brother Domenic Corbo.  Junior Warden David Jackson provided the most memorable image of the day as he taught his young daughters how to jump rope by jumping rope himself—and doing quite a good job of it too!  Towards the end of the day, several attendees lined up for a water balloon toss—with no-one minding if they missed their balloon, as it was quite refreshing to get soaked after playing in the sun all day.  Winners of the water balloon toss were our own Junior Deacon Adam Ellyson and his fiancée Jennifer Riggot—congratulations Adam and Jen!