PICNICKING WAS A FAVORITE ACTIVITY

PICNICKING WAS A FAVORITE ACTIVITY

(PENINSULA GATEWAY, JUNE 20, 1984 “OLD TOWN” ARTICLE)

Our recent weather which plans on sticking around for a few more weeks makes me, and perhaps you, long for the “picnic days”.   I hope you enjoy picnicking vicariously through this article.

The family and neighbors of Frederick Pfundt gathered for a picnic, 

“Vacation as always!” urged an editorial in Gig Harbor’s Bay Island News during the wartime summer of 1918.  Its writer protested the poor advice of those who told people not to take time off so the nation could continue throwing its entire strength into the War for Liberty.

People of the Peninsula had known from the start that vacation country is just outside their own doors.  So, while envious Tacomans discussed in print how to acquire Gig Harbor’s waterfront beauty for themselves and while the local editorial discussed the patriotic value of going away — to mountain, plain or forest — people around here did what they always had done.  They went on a picnic.

Swimming in the water tank at the Samuelson farm.

A picnic two generations ago was the cheapest thing folks could do.  It promised quick relief from daily labor and it usually turned into even more fun, camping.  Always a special event no matter how often it happened, a picnic and a camping trip often were the same thing.  The best place to go for either was a favorite beach not very far away.

Individuals who recall those days of simple freedom comment now in wonder at how, when they lacked special equipment and transportation was so awkward and slow, people slipped away to enjoy the outdoors far more often than they seem to now.  

A picnic-camping spot was reached by rowboat, horse and wagon, steam boat, Model T or a combination of those means.  Sometimes a rowboat could be rented from a dock store-owner to continue to a nearby island.  Local, water-wise teenagers in groups of boys or girls took the family rowboat out alone to camp, sometimes taking along little brothers or sisters.  No one worried for their safety.  Mom and Grandma might take the kids in a horse and buggy to seek out a quiet sandpit to get away for a night or two from the work that never seemed to get done.  

Entire families, with all the kids, lots of relatives and neighbors, would pay passage on a steam launch to get to a favorite beach for a holiday.  The captains of those launches gave free rides (of course) when the picnic was their own idea.  Visiting, talking with persons one didn’t see every day, was rewarding entertainment.  Someone was sure to bring along a musical instrument.

Some campers took tenting canvas but many preferred the shelter of overhanging boughs.  Nearly everyone avoided awkward, folding Army cots and very few used sleeping bags.  Most campers just rolled up in a blanket and sleep in the sand.  It was part of the novelty.  If there were hazards like rain, sand fleas or jumping mice, no one remembers them.

Anywhere near the water, was the best place to be when the sun was shining.  Folks didn’t wait for the Fourth of July for a picnic, going out as early and as late in the season as they could seize good weather.  Peninsula beaches, even if inhabited, were open to those who wished to enjoy them.  One could trade off with a neighbor for help with the chores, row somewhere for a day and maybe stay for three.  For food to last over, many residents often took a variety of things:  a chocolate cake, fried chicken, a crock of baked beans, coffee and a tin pail to boil it in, potatoes cooked or raw, the makings for ice cream and dill pickles.

Swimming at Warren Dock, Fox Island

Making ice cream on a beach in mid-summer without technological help to keep the ice was simple, if one planned ahead.  When the Joseph Cherry family in Rosedale got together for its annual outing, Grandpa Cherry traveled to Tacoma by steamer to buy 50 pounds of ice.  Carrying it wrapped in newspaper, he brought it back on the boat’s return run, drove 12 miles from the landing by horse and buggy to Cherry Point, where the waiting picnickers had times their gathering for his arrival.  Out of the ice that was left he could get two or three mixes of ice cream, enough for everyone if the kids didn’t take more than their share.

In a day when Gig Harbor’s young adults thought nothing of spending a summer Sunday afternoon rowing across the Narrows to buy an ice cream soda and visit the city, Point Defiance Park frequently was the scene of Sunday School and graduation picnics, as well as the customary Independence Day celebrations.

Horseshoe Lake was closer and immensely popular after its opening on July 4, 1917.  Presently owned by Kitsap County, it originally was opened under the ownership of the Ostrom family.  Its dance pavillon always was crowded even on weekend afternoons.  Its ball park and the boating, bathing, picnicking and fishing it offered, along with Mrs. Ostrom’s home-cooked meals, were attractive to families and clubs of the Peninsula.

The Opening Day at Horseshoe Lake

Handy for those who lived close to town were the Sunrise Beach and Point Richmond areas.  School class picnics frequently were held at Point Fosdick.  A beach called The Maples on Harstine Island was a favorite, as were Raft and Deadman’s (Cutts) Islands, all visited regularly by steamer-loads of excursionists and rowboats full of area residents.

Out-of-towners came to camp with friends and relatives in the Rosedale neighborhood, and one person once stayed a month digging geoducks on the outside shore of Raft Island during exceptionally low tides.

People who lived with wind and tides are accustomed to the unexpected — sometimes their outings became longer than planned.  In August 1917, a Gig Harbor family named Naters, says a dusty newspaper’s front page, “went fishing in their rowboat down the West Passage towards Seattle.”

“A noon they enjoyed a fish fry at the north end of Vashon Island and after dinner they decided to complete their journey around the island.  After rowing until dark, they found the tide and wind too much to row against and camped a few hours on the island until a change of tide.  They arrived home after midnight learning that Vashon Island is much larger than they had imaged.”

Now, are you ready to fix that picnic lunch, or dinner, spread the newspapers down and picnic in your living room?  Or maybe, just maybe, on your porch?  Bon appétit!

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