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Sunday, June 13
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After turning Truck Rally responsibilities over to TFC Global’s Headquarter’s Office earlier this year, the committee decided we needed a farewell picnic – just to see each other one more time and be with those who ever served on the Rally committee or were key volunteers during the years.
Since we have room, Cerwin and I offered to have it at our house.
Our three youngest grandsons, Ian, Jesse and Jared came over early Sunday morning to help Cerwin put up our three canopies.
We set lunch for 1 pm since several were traveling a distance. We had coffee, punch, garden tea and a few things like cheese, pretzels and relishes available by noon, for those who could arrive early. It this photo (about 1 pm) Cerwin is welcoming everyone.
There were fifty-one people – 49 for lunch and 2 who stopped in later.
We provided place settings, drinks and turkey barbecue sandwiches. Everyone else bought a favorite picnic dish.
Our garage was set up for 50 people. I also set up 8 seats in our kitchen’s dining area, just in case there were more than we expected. There were a few empty seats in the garage because several people chose to eat at their lawn chairs under our trees because it was a pleasant, cloudy afternoon.
The lower yard was set up for the children or anyone who preferred playing games. This is Calvin Kleinfelter and their grandson.
Most people pulled their lawn chairs into several circles and enjoyed visiting with friends and in some cases people they haven’t seen for years.
Some of these people served with us every year since 1985 – when we were asked to oversee the rally. Others joined us in more recent years and there were a few who used to be on a committee, but moved on to serve with other ministries.
The weather was perfect for an outside gathering. There was a cloud cover, but predicted rain never happened. When it got rather cloudy in the midafternoon and there was a bit of drizzle, several men helped Cerwin take the canopies down and put them and the serving tables in the garage. We also took down several tables in the garage so there would be room for us in case we had to make a quick move to the garage. A thunderstorm was a possibility.
As people left during the late afternoon, the lawn chair circles got tighter, and by 6:00 there was only one circle. 🙂 A few stayed until 7 pm. We had so must fun catching up on each others lives and talking about Rally highlights and lowlights. Even the not-so-fun things are funny by this time.
I don’t think we ever held an event at our place where I felt so loved and blessed. This was a team like no other. They developed the event into a great fundraiser day for the Northeast Region of TFC and when regions were no longer necessary (about 2006) and were disbanded, the funds were used for chapel construction and headquarter’s operations.
Several said we should have a Rally picnic every year. I’m not sure I want to host one every year – maybe every 5 years – but by then I will be 82 and Cerwin will be 85. Who knows how much energy we will have by then. 🙂
By now, many of us are in retirement mode and happily turned the event over to the new team at TFC Global’s Headquarters Office. Their event is called Victory Weekend Truck Show 2021 and will look a bit different than the Rally. We continue to support them in prayer. If you are interested, see VictoryWeekend2021 | Powered By GiveSmart for details.
Inge’s view of the picnic Just Another Blog…: Truck Rally Volunteers Farewell Picnic (iekohen.blogspot.com)