LTHforum Picnic XV: September 13, 2020 - CANCELLED

Hi,

Usually I wait for the worst day of winter to make this announcement. Those being so few this season, I almost forgot to get this bit of business done.

Now you know, so wait until late July or early August for the reservation thread.

Our permit is for Forest Glen.

Meteorological Spring is this Sunday, March 1. Summer is only three months away and Fall in six months.

Regards,
Cathy2

The Facebook post is deceptive -- it uses the LTH photo of Calumet Fisheries, which is a bit far from Forest Glen. Perhaps a future event with picnicking from Calumet and other south-side providers?

JoelF wrote:The Facebook post is deceptive -- it uses the LTH photo of Calumet Fisheries, which is a bit far from Forest Glen. Perhaps a future event with picnicking from Calumet and other south-side providers?

Absent of my uploading an image about the picnic, facebook will put that up as a default.

Before LTH, Chowhound friends did collect food from all over the south side and dined at a park looking out onto the lake. Vital Information pulled it together. I missed it because of some prior obligation. All the fun everyone had, I really regret it.

In the same spirit, a gathering at a food hall or back to the International Mall might be fun and easy way to try a swath of things.

Regards,
Cathy2

As always, thanks for your faithfulness in arranging this, C2. Have it on my calendar.

Looking forward to better days!

Cathy2

Hi,

The Cook County Forest Preserve cancelled any picnic reservation in excess of 100.

Our picnic for 2020 is cancelled.

Next year!

Regards,
Cathy2

I don't think we even had 100 last year. Can we resubmit for 99?

JoelF wrote:I don't think we even had 100 last year. Can we resubmit for 99?

i was just going to post the same thing. we can definitely keep it under 100 by making it reservation only, and no surprise guests.

There are a lot of sound reasons to not have our picnic this year, most of them having to do with our members' safety, common sense our general inability to keep the picnic venue secure during the event. The FPDCC groves are not private spaces and there are countless chances for all sorts of complications because we have no control over who comes through or how they might comport themselves. Additionally, it's a relatively unsanitary situation to begin with. There's no running water, no proper bathrooms, etc. Even in a typical year, the hazards are many.

However, even if you're interested in following the FPDCC's rules, their stated limit is 50 people, not 99.

FPDCC wrote:If your permit lists an attendance of between 50-99 people, it will be placed in a “hold” status, and a member of the Permits staff will contact you to confirm whether you can limit attendance to fewer than 50 people before approving. Forest Preserves staff will be monitoring events to confirm that attendance does not exceed 50 people. Permit holders hosting events in excess of the limits are subject to enforcement, including dispersal of the event and citations.

So, getting it down to 99 attendees effectively accomplishes nothing except for earning the organizer the additional obligation of culling the group further, down to 50 attendees. Fwiw, we were over 99 last year and my guess is that if the weather had been better, that number would have been higher. So, that's a lot of cutting and excluding just to knowingly assemble a large group of people in a potentially unsafe situation where there'd be several variables beyond our control. Additionally, one of the best things about this particular event over the years has been that we have never limited attendance. On top of all that, it would be completely unwise to share food and beverage with each other in the current climate. So, there goes yet another defining element of the event. Taking all this into account, attempting to shoehorn in a picnic this year is a complete non-starter. The bottom line is that LTH will not hold its annual picnic this year.

I did not make this decision lightly. But in the end, there's just no amount of 'our community could really use this' that could overtake my fundamental instinct to not knowingly put people in harm's way.

All this said, many people have probably blocked off the date and are available. So, if those of you who are willing to gather would like to do so, there's absolutely nothing preventing you from doing so. All we ask is that it not be done under LTH's name or organized as an LTH event.

Many thanks, for your consideration and your understanding.

=R=
for LTH