Sorry Picnic in the Park got rained out

Contributed
Published: July 10, 2008

To the editor,
No one was as disappointed as the Celebrate Orange board members when Picnic in the Park was rained out last Saturday. Six months of meetings and planning were washed away in one hour early Saturday morning as we scrambled to notify various groups of the need to cancel.
An early-morning inspection had revealed that the rains from Friday had made the fields unusable for parking. Also, there was a 60 percent chance of rain Saturday evening (and did it ever rain!). It was a good call. Fortunately, the early decision meant that we would not have to pay for delivery and setup of the fireworks. Some other expenses were locked in, such as for tents, porta-jons, etc., already delivered.
We have begun the process of planning for an alternative date for our Picnic in the Park program for this year. Also, we need to set a new date for the drawing to determine the winner of our 50-50 raffle.
It is our hope that our sponsors and donors will allow us to use their “Picnic” donations for a “makeup” event and for our other annual community celebration, Music on Main Street, on Dec. 31.
We apologize to our performers, donors, sponsors, vendors and to the community for our need to cancel but ask for understanding and continued support.
Appreciation is expressed to the Orange County Review for splendid efforts to promote the event. We also wish to thank Lake Currents at Lake of the Woods, Blue Ridge Marketplace, the Orange County Visitor’s Bureau, the Orange Downtown Alliance, OC Magazine, radio stations SAM and WJMA and the Town of Orange for their excellent publicity.
Those wishing more information should contact me by calling 672-3322. Thanks again for continuing community support for our efforts.
Albert E. Packard, Chairman
Celebrate Orange