Which Is It Picnic or Family Reunion? That may seem like an odd statement. But once I tell you the reason it will become clear. There was a time in my life when I owned a farm along with my husband and then ex-husband. It had 85 acres and what we did made sense at the time. Both of our parents were getting on in years, and owning homes was getting to be too much.
So we all sat down and discussed the pros and cons of our situation. My mother was widowed, my in-laws were having a hard time keeping up their home. So we decided to pool our resources and buy a farm. We all have come from a farming background and enjoyed it. My father-in-law knew of a farm in town that was going up for sale, and it had 85 acres.
We all sold our houses and pooled the money and bought an 85-acre farm. The only thing that was missing was a farmhouse. But this farm did have two apartments, and one building that was used as a gathering place, as the farm was once a riding stable.
It did have seven outbuildings and one large barn where the cows were kept when it was a dairy farm. One building for the pigs, one for horses, and one where tools were kept. There were smaller ones for chickens etc.
When we bought it, my in-laws stayed in the front apartment, which was the old milk room. That had been made into a small one bedroom house. My mother stayed in a small one located near the main barn. The one that was the gathering hall, we made into a third apartment, took the two small restrooms and converted into one bathroom. Divided up the large space so that we could get a bedroom and left the rest open floor layout.
Had to put in a stove, kitchen cabinets, sink, place for a refrigerator, and a furnace. The ceilings were over 8′ tall, had a large stone fireplace, which we later put in a small wood burning to help heat the room. Later, we had plans for a raised ranch house. I took those plans and revamped them, at the time zoning would allow for one in-law apartment. So where the two-car garage would be, we made a small in-law apartment, and where the rec-room would be, we made another small apartment, but this one had a kitchen area, but no stove. This was where my mother was, and she ate with us.
As the years went on and because we had so many acres, we decided to have a special day to have a gathering. In the meantime, I went through a divorce, but we all still kept living there. It was great for my son as he had all his grandparents there and his father lived in one of the apartments on the farm. Many people thought that we were all nuts, but I always said there were 85 acres and if we couldn’t get along there was enough room to go and cool off.
Picnic or Family Reunion?
My second husband and I owned a business and decided that we would have a picnic to thank our business associates for their business. But then we thought it would be a great time to have family and friends come too. So as the years went on, the list grew and finally got to over 200 people. We had it so that everyone who came would bring a dish or donate something to the picnic. Some brought desserts, drinks, main dishes. We would supply chicken to be grilled, soft drinks, and the place to sit relax, enjoy each other and let the rest of the world go by.
You would think that if 200 people came to a picnic that you would have a lot of duplicate dishes, but we didn’t; it always turned out that if one brought potato salad, we would have at least one backup. Some people would bring something special; one year, one person brought tuna steaks to be grilled. I know that when you are deciding what to bring, you find that you don’t have what you need. Planning large gatherings also taught us how quickly costs can add up, so over the years I learned to appreciate finding good deals on food, supplies, and everyday items. Bet you will find just what you are looking for, even something you need for a picnic.
Another year, someone brought crab cakes. One year, a 50-pound turkey was donated, and we cooked it on the grill. This turkey was donated by the person whom we always hired to have a wagon ride. We had to start cooking at about 5 am to have it ready by around 1 pm. When everyone was supposed to arrive for this picnic, but we always had a few who would arrive around 11 am in the morning. Just couldn’t wait.
Because the farm was a riding stable at one time, we had trails, but they were more like roads. So we would hire a local farm that had horses and a wagon that you could hire to come and give rides. There was also a pond on the farm, and we would have fishing poles, but there was a catch-and-release rule. It turned out that every year, many people would look forward to going to this event. As a matter of fact some would call us in July to make sure we were having it again. We usually had it the first Saturday after Labor Day, and for eight years, we never had it rain.
No one was at a loss for what to do; we had an ongoing volleyball game going, the wagon ride, and there was a pool if the weather permitted as sometimes it was on the cool side. Had a croquet court, people could go for walks, had trivia games, bingo, and of course, all you could eat all day. In the evening, we sometimes had dancing in the main barn in the hay loft.
This was a time when business associates, friends, and relatives could have a day to catch up on family things. Maybe make a few deals along the way. Talk about old times, find who is not with us any longer, and who is making the family tree grow more branches.
Looking back, those gatherings were never really just about food or games. They were about spending time together, sharing stories, helping one another, and creating memories people still talk about today.
Today, many people are searching for ways to reconnect with community, simplify life, save money, and spend more meaningful time with family and friends.
Just like this picnic or family reunion, it starts small and just keeps growing!
A Note from Nina: Many of the photos used throughout this site come from my own collection and are connected to the experiences, places, animals, projects, and memories I write about.