Our local community holds an annual picnic for its residents, at our local park, to celebrate the neighborhood in which we live. We provide a BBQ lunch with hot dogs, veggie dogs, drinks, ice cream treats, popcorn, cotton candy and watermelon. We also provide face painting, balloon art, bubbles and fun games with prizes for everyone. For the past 3 years a local Port Moody band has come to play which adds a lot of ambience to the day. The event is advertised via social media platforms and our community newsletter. We hold it on the first Saturday in July, so it has become a bit of a staple on people’s calendars! It is a free event and has always been well attended with 150-300 people each year, depending on the weather.
Our separate volunteer planning committee meets early in the year to get volunteers from our homeowners/members of the community association. We have had the same volunteers/friends for the past 2-3 years, so we have been fortunate to have all the information & resources we need at our fingertips. As a committee we check in with one another every month to ask questions and see if anyone needs help sourcing items for the BBQ. We meet every week for the 3 weeks prior to the event just to make sure everything is running smoothly and to deal with any last-minute details. Every year we add another game or element to the day. This year we added a Vintage Car display where we asked members of our community to bring their vintage cars for display at the event. This and all the planned games, music, food and activities were a BIG hit with the kids and participants. We also created more focus on waste management and had volunteers help participant dispose of the waste from the event in appropriate waste containers.
As you can tell from the pictures, the event is enjoyed by everyone, the young and the young at heart. It’s a great way to connect with people in the neighborhood as everyone leads busy lives so our family day picnic gives people the time to get to know one another and make connections that might otherwise not happen.
This event shows the pride we have in our community and our determination in keeping the community connected.
