Barbara A. Martindale- For What It's Worth July 8, 2013
Picnics, the old fashioned kind, seem to be a thing of the past. The days of spreading a blanket and laying out a delicious, carefully prepared luncheon under a tree just doesn't seem to happen anymore.
Way back in the 1930s, a group of relatives of Mrs. Walter Richardson of Haldimand House, would once a year go on a trek to the big oak tree, which stood on the river bank on Forfar Street East at Berwick Street.
The women spread blankets and tablecloths down on as flat a surface as they could find, and everyone would relax as the water rippled away just a few feet away.
The tree was described as a big oak tree, at least three feet across and it stood alone, surrounded by grass, ideal for a picnic.
In early 1990, that old tree still stood and Les Richardson was hoping the area would be cleaned up with a park bench and perhaps a picnic table.
Today, the Patterson Walk extends to that area and yes, it is cleaned up with a park bench. No picnic table, though. The tree seems to be partially gone or completely gone.
The pathway is quite lovely with trees all along it, meandering along the river heading toward Haddington Street.
During the 1940s and ‘50s, Kohler was the place to go for school children to have a picnic.
Haldimand schools would meet at the Kohler air field, left over from WWII days when Kohler served as an auxiliary field for pilot training. Even in the war days, a Sports Day was held in September.
The Kohler County Picnic was often referred to as the Farmers’ Picnic, coordinated through the Haldimand agriculture representative, Gordon Skinner. Laying out a picnic with school friends was very much part of it. Competitions in sport events were the biggest feature of the yearly day.
Another picnic time in those years was the Lodge Picnic, probably York's Enniskillen Lodge, held in Port Dover under the trees in the park near the beach.
Tables that were part of the sandy Port Dover park then would be lined up and benches would be put in place. Then the tablecloths, cutlery and dishes came out from each family and, picnic goodies were spread from one end to the other. Children hurriedly ate ready to get their swimsuits on, only to be told they had to wait for an hour. Remember those warnings!
At this year's Canada Day, a family of six was dropped off about 4 p.m. with picnic goodies obviously in tow. They were heading to the park by the dam. With the crowds that day, they would have a hard time finding a spot. Yet, they seemed to know exactly where they were heading as if it were an annual outing. With the music, fireworks and more, they knew their timing for a picnic was at its best.
