Since its inception in 1909, Picnic Day has become the crown-jewel event of the UC system and the signature event of UC Davis. Believed to be the largest student-run event in the nation, Picnic Day showcases the richness of diversity and achievement at UC Davis and the surrounding community in the areas of research, teaching, service, and campus life.
Picnic Day, the annual Open House for the University of California, Davis, is one of the largest student-run events in the nation. This hallmark event has been designed to showcase and celebrate the richness of campus life, the diverse achievements of UCD students, staff and faculty to provide a day of education, information and entertainment to all who attend. There will be more than 200 events throughout the campus and an estimated 50,000-60,000 visitors attending this special event. This long-standing campus tradition began in 1909 when the University Farm invited the surrounding community to view their new dairy barn.
The above was from a press release
before the 100th anniversary of Picnic Day. This
year was the 107th anniversary, celebrated on Saturday.
We attended some Picnic Day activities when the kids
were younger. They were in the parade for
the diving team, and maybe the children's theatre, for a
few years. I think Walt drove a truck for one of the
floats one year. But as the kids got older,
interest in Picnic Day waned, in favor of Whole Earth
Day, which was more to everyone's taste (to say nothing
of the fact that Lawsuit performed on Whole Earth Day).
But the rest of the town still comes out in force to
celebrate Picnic Day, and while I usually stay in the
house and out of the crowds, this year I worked at
Logos. I had changed my work day so I could attend
the Sutter lunch earlier this week.
The first hint that this might be a
"different sort of day" was the overflowing trash can
and then the two port-o-potties next door to the store.
I expected it to be a slow day, but it
was surprisingly lively. Sales were about normal,
or maybe less, but there was never a "down time" when
nobody was in the store, some folks just popping in to
have a glass of the free lemonade we had made available
for people who wanted to get out of the heat.
Since the day was so long, I'm just
going to hit the more interesting customers, like the
first guy who bought a copy of "Atlantis" and said he
was going to go home and take a nap. He had
marched in the parade and was tired. When I asked
him which group he marched with he said "the classical
studies group." Yes, Davis has a parade with
groups like "classical studies" !!
Another guy came in playing with a yoyo.
Made me realize it has been many years since I'd seen
anyone with a yoyo. He was quite good, too.
A guy came in with a big box of candy
and asked if I wanted to buy some. I declined.
A lot of the interesting stuff was
happening outside. A guy walked by with a tuba,
groups of police in 3s or 4 and once a group of 8 walked
past. There was a continuous flow of traffic,
mostly groups of laughing students, who seemed to get
louder as the day wore on...I wonder why...? I'm
sure it had nothing to do with the pub around the
corner. Two customers came in and asked if it was always
like this on Saturday. Neither was from Davis and
didn't know about Picnic day. I told each of them
they had arrived on the busiest day of the year.
Two folks walked by, smiled and waved at
me and shouted "Hi, Maria."
A girl came in wearing a flowered dress
with a very short skirt and boots above the calf.
She had a demure black hat on and when she passed by me
I realized that the black hat had ears on it. Cat
ears. Her backpack was a black cat's head.
A girl with a balloon attached to her
backpack ought a copy of Teen Feng Shui.
A guy who looked like our foreign
student from Croatia came in. He wore two pairs of
glasses, one on top of his head. Both pairs were
attached by cords.
Two guys came in together and I swear
they are twins. Both were very tall and had the
same features, but one was neatly groomed and the other
had long hair and a beard.
A Hispanic man had a baby in a stroller
and as he walked out, he was trying to push the stroller
while he was holding a bottle for the baby to drink.
I should have run after him and offered him the front
table to sit until he finished giving the child his
bottle!
Two couples came in, one man with a very
protuberant belly. Both men looked to have much
younger wives. The bigger man bought a cookbook of
recipes from Florence (lavishly photographed) and I
asked him if he had ever been there. He said that
no, he had not, but their daughter was there right now
and he figured he could enjoy her trip through
Florentine recipes.
More noise outside as three guys were
passing by dancing to Reggae music. Another guy
had a balloon and a potted plant. Two guys had
four guitars. Many girls walked by with flowered
headband on their heads. One girl was wearing a very
flimsy dress with a light and airy chiffon skirt...and
heavy men's work boots. (It was like going back to
Berkeley in the 60s!)
Eliza came in with her baby sleeping on
her chest again, but the baby woke up this time. She's
11 mos old now and just adorable, flirting with me over
the to of the baby carrier.
So it was a very unusual day, but fun.
And, it being Saturday instead of Thursday--and he
having more sense than to come to Davis on Picnic Day,
my friend did not show up.
Today is the anniversary of the 1906
earthquake in San Francisco. I was curious to see
what they estimated it to be on the Richter scale (which
wasn't developed in the 1930s, so there is no accurate
record), but they estimated it to be about 7.8 which is
about what the Ecuador earthquake was last week...and
just slightly larger than the Japan earthquake, also
last week.
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