JOIN IN ON THE FUN AND COMMUNITY TOGETHERNESS AT THIS YEAR’S WAYNEDALE COMMUNITY PICNIC
The Waynedale Community Picnic invites all Waynedale residents to come for a day of fun sponsored by local businesses and organizations on Saturday, August 22 from 10am to 3pm at the Waynedale Park. The event is organized and held the day of by volunteers. All activities and food are cost free, but each attendee must register at the registration table (on the South side of the park) for tickets the day of the event. Since its start 13 years ago, the picnic has grown in attendance to over 1500 guests.
You may ask yourself “how do they feed and entertain so many attendees for free?” It starts with the local businesses and organizations who have so generously given what they can to see this event happen. Some provide their services, some needed supplies, some give prizes, but many give monetary donations. It is truly a great show of community spirit and support by these donors. The event actually has no public funding through a government entity or grant; it’s the over 100 area businesses and organizations that make it happen! The fundraising process begins the April before the event in August. If you’re counting, that’s 4 months of fundraising and working on building the event.
Which brings us to the next part of how this event takes place, the tireless organizers. The picnic organizers this year are Megan Ryan and Cheryl Connett. These ladies keep extremely busy over the months leading up to the picnic. This year, Megan has led the event operations, advertising and reached out to the donors of the picnic. And Cheryl worked with the over 50+ volunteers and will be facilitating them on the day of the event to make sure every guest is having a great time. With it being Megan Ryan’s first year organizing the event, Cheryl and Beulah Matzcak (former organizers of the event) assisted Megan with some pointers and traditions of how to prepare for the huge event.
Seemingly, once Megan took hold to the basics of the event, she ran with it. The organizers say that there are many new features guests can look forward to this year, in addition to many of the traditional favorites. The event has been entirely reorganized into a layout that is much more spread out to accommodate the new attractions including a live band on a stage, the splashpad, classic car and emergency vehicle show and an inflatable obstacle course.
Taking advantage of the entire park grounds, this new event layout also accommodates more vendors and booths where guests may meet and greet local businesses, as many of them are holding raffles for additional prizes.
The Waynedale Community Picnic is truly a reflection of our community. We have businesses, organizations and volunteers who are passionate about caring for Waynedale residents by supporting and helping to create a day that everyone can come to the Waynedale Park and enjoy a day of togetherness. Just as it was when the park was dedicated in 1949, the main dish will be hot dogs and the theme is fun and enjoying our community together.
SPLASHPAD
Splish, Splash! Bring your flip-flops, bathing suits and towels and cool off in Waynedale’s very own splashpad. This year, the Waynedale Park splashpad will be open during the picnic! In 2007, volunteers from the Waynedale area neighborhoods worked determinedly with the city to bring the splashpad to the Waynedale Park. In honor of those who had worked so hard to provide the community with such a neat and awesome feature, it was decided to keep it on for everyone to enjoy at the Waynedale Community Picnic.
LIVE MUSIC
Are you ready to groove? There will be a live performance by local band, “Loudmouth Soup!” This family-friendly 5-piece band has music and songs for all ages and genres. The band will perform from noon to 2:30pm on the newly built ‘Waynedale.com stage.’ Construction volunteers Alex Cornwell, Jordan Cornwell, Megan Ryan, Tim Ryan and Jim Lambert constructed the 12’ x 24’ stage specifically for the Waynedale Picnic, but you may see the stage at other various community events, just like this one. So, warm up your voice, shine up your dancing shoes, and be ready to enjoy some upbeat and funky live music at the picnic this year!
NEW THIS YEAR!
This year, the Waynedale Community Picnic is offering some new and exciting features for the community to enjoy! The spalshpad will be open! It’s August, so why not skip on through the sprayers and cool down after you have a go at the Army National Guard’s inflatable obstacle course! Before you get too bogged down with the games, be sure to check out the classic cars on display for everyone’s viewing pleasure. The owners of these cars will be on site to answer any questions you might have about their beauties. Attendees will also be able to enjoy live music from local band “Loudmouth Soup” while they enjoy their free lunch, get their face painted, or explore the emergency vehicles on Koons Street.
OLD FAVORITES!
Even with all the new features of the picnic this year, there will still be many of the old favorites to enjoy! Bingo starting at 10:45am is a fun way to start the morning, with prizes after each round. Free lunch, as always in the past, will be served at 11:00am and is brought to you by local restaurants in the Waynedale area. The face painting, craft tents, and kids games will be available all day for children. Don’t forget, adults ages 18+, enter your name in the door prize contest to win one of many prizes donated by local companies and organizations.
REGISTRATION
Every guest should plan on checking in at the registration table when they arrive at the picnic. When you register you will receive your meal ticket and bingo ticket (if you wish to play bingo). Children 0-13 years will receive a prize bag and 6 game tickets to use at any 6 games or the craft tent.
The registration table is also where adults 18+ can sign up for the door prize raffle. Because the Waynedale Community Picnic is a FREE event, the food and prizes are available while supplies last. That being said, we have enough supplies for a minimum of 1500 guests!
OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS!
Each year, the picnic organizers reach out to the businesses and organizations in the Waynedale area to help put on this free and fun community event, and each and every year, they respond positively and generously! This year, over 110 Waynedale businesses contributed to the 13th Annual Waynedale Community Picnic. Please thank the sponsors by shopping or using their services as they’ve extended themselves to make sure you’ve had a great time at the event.
VENDORS
40 different vendors from around Fort Wayne will be present the day of the picnic to visit with all the attendees! With all these vendors in one location and at one single event, this is a great way to hear from many local businesses all at once and to catch up on what’s new. You can expect to see the Boy Scouts, Waynedale Baptist Church, FFA, Army National Guard, Costco, YMCA, the Southwest Conservation Club, and many more local businesses.
AUGUST 22, 2015
AGENDA
10:45am – First Game of Bingo
11:00am – Lunch
NOON – Live Band Starts
Select Times (TBA) – Car Show
Select Times (TBA) – Emergency Vehicle Tour
ALL DAY ATTRACTIONS
Petting Zoo
Face Painting
Crafts
Caricatures
Splashpad Fun
Inflatable Obstacle Course
Free Lunch
Music
Kids Games & Prizes
Pinewood Derby Races
Door Prize Signup
Popcorn & Cotton Candy
Vendor Meet & Greet
Local Mascots
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