The Second Saturday In August

It's hard to believe this is the second Saturday in August already.  For those that live here in the 'Ville, that can mean only one thing: St. Joseph's picnic.  It's become a summer staple for the city for over a century and a half.  Yes, that's right - this year is St. Joseph's 156th annual picnic.  It's a family tradition.  My grandparents went to the picnic; my parents, aunts and uncles went to the picnic; and now I go. 

The picnic is the main fundraiser for St. Joseph's orphanage. The story behind St. Joseph's is an interesting piece of Louisville history.  In the 1830's, a great cholera epidemic hit Louisville, and a large number of adults died as a result, leaving behind a large number of orphaned children.  A group of German Catholics saw the need to help these orphans and they formed the St. Joseph Orphan Society in 1849.  One year later,  the first picnic was held to raise funds for the children's home. The rest is history. 

There's over 60 booths offering games of chance - you can win anything from a fern to candy to NASCAR things.  They even have a booth where for only a nickel, you could win a box of Little Debbie cakes.  The 'rents and I were there today for a couple of hours right after the picnic opened, and believe me when I tell you that even early in the day like that, you could not get close to the Little Debbie booth because it was so crowded.  That's what I like to see at a picnic. 

The main reason Dad wanted to go was to take notes and observe and get some ideas on things for the VFW picnic next year.  People probably thought we were reporters - walking around taking pictures and jotting down extensive notes in my little black notebook.  We came up with some great ideas and suggestions, and we're already in the early planning stages on building a new game booth for the VFW picnic - the ever popular Frog Catapult game.  I'll keep you posted on our progress.  At least we have about a year to work on it.