2024 FAMILY PICNIC & BLOOD DRIVE

Originally our Family Picnic was scheduled for Saturday, March 23rd, but weather forecasts were predicting high winds, thunderstorms and flooding.  As sailors, we are accustomed to foul weather, but the prudent thing to do was reschedule.  We are glad we did, because on Saturday, April 6th, we had a beautiful Florida spring day.

Our youth sailors hit the beach at 9:00am and began their last session of the Spring season. The kids test their skills by competing in mini races and playing some tag games.

The OneBlood bus arrived at 10am and began taking donations. Some people had made appointments online, but others had not.  With only ten club members donating blood, there was no waiting in line. Still, OneBlood was happy with the results. If this becomes an annual giving event, we might be able to increase participation.

Finally, the main event, the picnic!  By the time the youth sailors came in from the lake and stored the boats and equipment (with the help of our parents and volunteers), everyone was hungry.

Our grill masters, David Burdett & Barrie Soloway fired up the barbeque. The aroma of grilled meat lured the Youth Sailing class to the picnic site, and started a feeding frenzy. While we were busy handing out hamburgers and hot dogs, the crowd was enjoying the chips and coleslaw. Meanwhile, the kids were circling the dessert table.  Like the sailors we are, we course corrected and opened up the dessert table.  There was no time to organize judges and scoresheets.  Our planned dessert contest was dashed in favor of just eating them.

Since prizes had been promised, and purchased, I decided to be the Dessert Judge and announce the awards at Thursday's General Meeting.  The "First Plate" award went to Norma Glanz for her Lemon Meringue Pie.  It was the first empty dish. Eaten quickly as word of mouth spread about it. There is no picture, it was gone that fast. The "Second Plate" award went to Regina Bush for her pretty, flower decorated chocolate cupcakes. Photo below.