B.A.A. Picnic July 20, 2008

The annual B.A.A. picnic took place at Blossom Heath Park in St. Clair Shores on Sunday, July 20th. The morning was overcast, but by noon the weather improved and it turned out to be a nice, hot summer day.

President Arsene Van Vooren and his son, little Arsene, and Vice President Dale Verhaeghe and his son D.J. arrived shortly after 11:00 a.m. with a truck and trailer loaded with refreshments. As Arsene was setting up the cotton candy and popcorn machines, it was determined that something was not right as the electrical breaker kept popping out. It turned out that the wiring on the popcorn machine was in bad shape. After making a few phone calls to the vendor, Arsene was able to get another machine which his wife, Pam, picked up. The treats provided by these two machines were very popular with both young and old alike.

As the people were arriving, it was announced that the euchre games would start at 1:30 p.m. Henry Verlinden, with the help of Bill Meldrum, took care of the card games. The lucky winners were 1st place Henry Verlinden and tied for 2nd and 3rd were the husband and wife team of Dick and Lil Cleyman.

The band concert, under the direction of Chris Migliori, took place from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. As usual, they held a captive audience. It was also noted that Walt Baier made sure that the members of the band had plenty of liquid refreshments to sustain them while they were playing. One of the songs the band played was "Hello Dolly", in memory of Paul Allemon, who loved to sing that song at club activities.

The kitchen crew, under the direction of Mel "Hop-Along" Ferdinande and Gary Huyghe, with the help of Chuck and Jeff Horan and Diane and Walt Baier, grilled the hot dogs and served the watermelon slices along with chips and pretzels.

The Ladies Auxiliary provided ice cream cups. Marianne Baecke and Ceil Janes distributed them to the children first, then the adults enjoyed the rest.

All in all, there were between 200-250 attendees which was a good turnout considering the threatening weather report. It seemed that everyone had an enjoyable afternoon as some old acquaintances were renewed. Many thanks to all those who made the arrangements and to all who helped out.

Bob Putrycus
Recording Secretary

Event Photos