Greetings From...

The ritual of the Southern California picnic had a threefold purpose, and still does: rub Easterners’ frostbitten noses in the fine weather; unite immigrants with hometown folks; and have a great excuse to eat.

The most famous al fresco feed was Long Beach’s annual Iowa Picnic. By 1908, 10,000 Hawkeyes were picnicking in Bixby Park each year. At Recreation Park in the ‘20s, the crowds peaked at 150,000. But as Iowans’ numbers have declined, so have picnickers; the latest drew perhaps two dozen.

Ontario’s All-States annual picnic began in 1930 among the pepper trees of Euclid Avenue. As many as 50,000 chowed down at the world’s longest picnic table (two miles, a record since eclipsed by some Italian town). By 1980 the event had pretty much petered out. The welcoming neon sign on Euclid Avenue was reportedly carted to the dump. In 1990, Ontario’s centennial year, resident Cindy Espinoza worked to revive the July Fourth picnic and parade she remembered from childhood. Though the turnout at this year’s event was strong, times have changed. She sighs: “Before, people were accustomed to bringing their own picnic baskets. Now we invite food vendors.”