The Picnic Club

We're back...

2009-03-10T11:12:00.002-04:00

Dear loyal members of The Picnic Club,

The weather of this weekend past has reminded us, your Founding Members, that Spring time is just around the corner and what better way to ring in the season of pasta salad, watermelon and gingham plaid than to have a picnic. Last season we were hit with an inordinate number of rainy weekends, and despite the fears of our friends at Down By The Hipster and New York Magazine, we did not, in fact, place a hex upon New York. To prove them wrong and ourselves right, keep a close eye, dear members, on this website, for the latest updates on when and where the first picnic of 2009 will be. In the meantime, stay warm, and know that soon, you will be trying to stay cool.

Fondly,

Your Hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

Another rainy Sunday

2008-06-13T13:18:00.001-04:00

Dear Members,

We don't know what to say. The weather right now is predicting isolated thunderstorms on Sunday. As a result, we will have to wait to have another picnic. Thank you to everyone who came out to the last one, it was a huge success. Let's get an even better showing next time!

Fondly,

Your Hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

No Picnic This Weekend

2008-06-06T20:25:00.002-04:00

Dear Members,

Due to the forecast of rain, there will be no picnic this weekend. Keep checking back for updates, as we will hold one the next nice weekend.

Fondly,

Your Hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

Pack your baskets

2008-05-29T10:07:00.003-04:00

Dear Members,

Its 10:08 a.m. on Thursday, May 29, and as of now the weather reports state that Sunday, June 1 will be mostly sunny and have high temperatures of 78.

So without any further hesitation, we would like to invite you all, dear members, to the picnic.

Sunday, June 1
1 p.m.
Sheep Meadow, Central Park
Southeast corner of Sheep Meadow
Look for Allison and Michael, they will be standing with clipboards.

This is going to be a picnic of epic proportions. Hope to see you all there. In the meantime, check back here for any updates.

Fondly,

Your Hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

On the Weekend

2008-05-13T12:24:00.004-04:00

Dear Members,

In response to our dear friends at Down By The Hipster and New York Magazine, we, Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club, would like to present to you, dear members, this beautiful day of weather. Controlling the Weather and other Fates is no easy task, and often we accidentally allocate days of Rain on days of scheduled Sun, so to make amends please accept this day of bright, clear skies and gentle breezes.

Until next time, please continue to check back for updates on our picnics and please let us know if you have any meteorological requests.

Fondly,

Your Hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

Once again, inaugural picnic postponed

2008-05-09T11:58:00.001-04:00

Dear Members of The Picnic Club,

I don't know what else to say other than the weather has not been on our side. Despite last Sunday's surprise sunshine, we have come to the consensus that even if it does not rain tomorrow, it will not be ideal picnic weather. Given that, we are going to postpone the picnic until a later date.

I know many of you are disappointed but trust us, no one moreso than we.
Stay strong, dear members, and continue to cross your fingers.

Fondly,

Your Hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

May 10th - The first Picnic

2008-05-02T13:28:00.002-04:00

Due to the ongoing struggle with the weather, our first picnic will be Saturday, May 10th, at 1 p.m. The location will still be Sheep Meadow in Central Park. The weather is supposed to be 72 degrees and sunny.

Stay tuned and we will post more information as the date approaches.

Fondly,

Your hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

4/27 Picnic - Postponed

2008-04-26T22:26:00.002-04:00

Dear all,

Due to the unfortunately inclement weather (40% chance of precipitation and a high of 59), we are postponing our inaugural picnic until next Sunday, May 4th, same time, same place. Please accept our sincerest apologies as we try our best to battle Mother Nature and host for you all the greatest picnic of all time.

In the mean time, keep checking back for updates and get ready for May 4th.

Fondly,

Your Hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

The First Picnic

2008-04-21T10:39:00.003-04:00

Inspired by the recent lovely weather, the Founding Members of the The Picnic Club have decided that the time has come and will be picnicing on Sunday, April 27 in Sheep Meadow, at 1pm.

Weather permitting, it should be a historical occasion, truly an afternoon to remember. Bring your baskets, your blankets, your cameras, your friends, and even your frenemies.

Sunday, April 27
1 p.m.
Sheep Meadow, Central Park
Look for Allison and Michael, they will be standing with clipboards

Come and break passover; don't come and break our hearts

Fondly,

Your Hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

Etymology

2008-04-11T11:59:00.003-04:00

Stay tuned for more updates -- if yesterday's weather was an indication of what is to come, the first picnic will take place on a beautiful day. In the meantime, consider the following.

Fondly,

Your Hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

The first usage of the word is traced to the 1692 edition of Origines de la Langue Française de Ménage—which mentions 'pique-nique' as being of recent origin; it marks the first appearance of the word in print. The term was used to describe a group of people dining in a restaurant who brought their own wine. For long a picnic retained the connotation of a meal to which everyone contributed something. Whether picnic is actually based on the verb piquer which means 'pick' or 'peck' with the rhyming nique meaning "thing of little importance" is doubted; the Oxford English Dictionary says it is of unknown provenance.

The word picnic first appeared in English texts in 1748 OED, and may have entered the English language from this French word or from the German Picknick, which may simply be a parallel borrowing from French. The practice of an elegant meal eaten out-of-doors, rather than a harvester's dinner in the field, was connected with respite from hunting from the Middle Ages; the excuse for the pleasurable outing of 1723 in Lemoyne's painting (illustration, left) is still offered in the context of a hunt.

In the late 1990s an e-mail hoax spread around the internet claiming that the word "picnic" was actually derived from racist term for a lynching. This claim had no basis in fact. See: Snopes.com Urban Legend reference page (Source: Wikipedia)

Picnic, Lightning

2008-04-08T12:15:00.000-04:00

It is possible to be struck by a
meteor or a single-engine plane while
reading in a chair at home. Pedestrians
are flattened by safes falling from
rooftops mostly within the panels of
the comics, but still, we know it is
possible, as well as the flash of
summer lightning, the thermos toppling
over, spilling out on the grass.
And we know the message can be
delivered from within. The heart, no
valentine, decides to quit after
lunch, the power shut off like a
switch, or a tiny dark ship is
unmoored into the flow of the body's
rivers, the brain a monastery,
defenseless on the shore. This is
what I think about when I shovel
compost into a wheelbarrow, and when
I fill the long flower boxes, then
press into rows the limp roots of red
impatiens -- the instant hand of Death
always ready to burst forth from the
sleeve of his voluminous cloak. Then
the soil is full of marvels, bits of
leaf like flakes off a fresco,
red-brown pine needles, a beetle quick
to burrow back under the loam. Then
the wheelbarrow is a wilder blue, the
clouds a brighter white, and all I
hear is the rasp of the steel edge
against a round stone, the small
plants singing with lifted faces, and
the click of the sundial as one hour
sweeps into the next.

--Billy Collins

The Picnic Club on Facebook

2008-04-05T11:07:00.004-04:00

As an update -- since the early part of this week when this blog began, we have had nearly 800 unique visitors and have received some great publicity. Thank you all!

We now have a group on Facebook called The Picnic Club. Please check out the group to see who else is interested in attending our picnics. From the responses we have generated so far, the first picnic should prove to be really exciting.

In the meantime, keep checking back for frequent updates and continue to spread the word.

Fondly,

Your hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

Constitution

2008-04-03T11:01:00.002-04:00

Thank you all for the overwhelming support we have received so far! As you may have noticed on the right hand column, we have posted the bylaws of our constitution, which we have called the "rules."

These rules serve as the linchpin of our club and as such should be held by all members with the highest respect and reverence. When the Founding Fathers first established the rules governing America, they were merely a handful of British on a revolutionary picnic: there may have been no baskets, but each and every one carried a picnic musket; and while warmth and comfort were nowhere to found, those brave men did indeed cover the Redcoats with a blanket of firepower and freedom.

In this light, please take a moment to read over and absorb the rules we have laid out. We believe them to be balanced and fair. In the meantime, keep checking our website for more information.

Fondly,

Your hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club

Welcome to The Picnic Club

2008-04-01T10:11:00.002-04:00

The founders of The Picnic Club are pleased to announce the inaugural chapter of The Picnic Club, New York City.

The Picnic Club is a members-only club dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of the classic picnic, a prized relic of post-modern antiquity that we believe should be restored to its fullest capacity. In this effort, we, The Picnic Club, formed an organization to establish picnics at various parks and outdoor venues around NYC to bring together picnic enthusiasts of all colors, shapes and sizes, unified by an unrelenting rapture for gingham plaid, wicker baskets, pasta salad, and freshly cut watermelon.

Please stay tuned for our inaugural picnic, which we believe (weather permitting of course) will take place in late April or early May, 2008. Additionally, as we form a more perfect union, we will of course develop a constitution that will lay out both the rights and regulations governing all those who partake in our splendid picnics.

In the meantime, please consider who you will bring on your blanket and what you might bring in your basket.

Fondly,

Your hosts,

Allison and Michael, Founding Members of The Picnic Club