B.A.A. Summer Picnic July 10, 2011

On what began as a cloudy and windy Sunday but turned sunny and hot, approximately 200 members and guests plus the B.A.A. band braved the elements. Good old Dale Verhaeghe was at the park before 11:00am, making sure that the electricity was on and setting up the area where the liquid refreshments would be served. Dale also provided a golf cart, complete with the Belgian flag, to be used to move tables and especially to transport those in need from the parking lot to the picnic area.

Arsene VanVooren arrived shortly after 11:00 along with Butch DeSmet and his friend Tina with all the beer, pop and ice. This was Butch’s first taste as refreshment chairman and he did a marvelous job.

The crowd was slow in arriving but eventually they showed up. Frank Baecke took care of the card games, which were won by Marion Westfall, Roland Deprez, Dick Huyghe, Phil Huyghe and Ron VanDaele.

At 2:30pm, Arsene along with the help of Patty VanDenBergh and her daughter, Andrea Rizzo, took care of running the children’s games which were enjoyed by about 25 youngsters. They all walked away with some kind of prize or a handful of candy.

At 3:30pm, the B.A.A. band, under the direction of Larry Huntington, played their usual pleasant music for an hour to the delight of the audience. While the music was being played, Al VanDenBergh, Jr. took care of the 50-50 raffle for the benefit of the Belgian Gazette. He was assisted by Alberta Bauer and Diane Baier. Alan Michaels, a former member who now resides in the Chicago area, drew the winning tickets that belonged to Marcel Daghuyt and Lilian VanDenBroeck.

At 4:30pm the kitchen crew of Chuck Horan and Gary Huyghe along with Walter Braehm provided the hot dogs, chips and watermelon. The best part of the refreshments were the ice cream sundaes, which were served by Pam VanVooren and Karen Verhaeghe.

It turned out to be a great day to relax and mingle with your friends while enjoying a few sodas. Again, Arsene did a marvelous job of coordinating everything and overseeing the activities which ran very smoothly.

Hopefully we all can enjoy it again next year.

Respectfully Submitted,

Bob Putrycus
Recording Secretary