08/09/2026
Another successful year in the books!
We are estimating that this year’s picnic brought in close to $20,000 before expenses! That is an incredible accomplishment, and we truly cannot thank everyone enough for showing up, supporting us, donating, volunteering, and helping make this day possible. ❤️
With that said, we do want to address a few things from this year’s picnic.
This seemed to be the year of equipment failures! 😅 We begin cleaning and preparing months in advance, and in the weeks leading up to the picnic, we thoroughly check and test our equipment to make sure everything is working properly and to catch any leaks, breaks, or potential problems. We did that this year just as we have every other year.
Unfortunately, sometimes things simply fail—and this year, we experienced more than our fair share.
🔧 Just three days before the picnic, we discovered a water leak and had to make repairs.
❄️ Thursday, our deep freezer went out and had to be replaced.
🧊 Friday, a refrigerator went down, so we borrowed one to get us through the weekend.
🔥Friday night, just an hour before pickup time, the exhaust fan over the grill went out. We immediately purchased a replacement fan and had it installed before cooking began.
🍦 Saturday, the replacement freezer would not maintain a temperature cold enough to keep the ice cream frozen.
🍗 And then, right around 5:00 PM during the supper rush, we had a 220-volt plug malfunction, and the heating element went out in our industrial fryer, causing delays with the chicken and fries.
None of these things were within our control. We completely understand that waiting longer than expected for food can be frustrating, and we sincerely apologize to anyone who experienced delays. Please know that our volunteers were working as quickly as possible to get things back up and running.
At the end of the day, every single person working this picnic is a volunteer. No one is being paid to be there, and everyone is giving their time because they care about the cemetery and want to see this tradition continue. We are always grateful for constructive feedback, but we also ask for a little patience and understanding when unexpected problems arise.
And, as always, we will never turn away someone who wants to volunteer! 😉 If you would like to help next year, we would absolutely love to have you join us. There is always plenty to do!
Now that the dust has settled, we’ve got a little repairing and replacing to do before next year. 😂 But we’ll get it done!
Thank you to EVERYONE who helped make this year another success. We truly appreciate every volunteer, donor, auction contributor, auctioneer, customer, and supporter who continues to show up for this special day.
❤️ We truly can’t wait to see you all next year!
It really is one of our favorite days of the year! ❤️
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! 🎉🙏🏻❤️
