HISTORY OF THE CHS REUNION PICNIC
Over the years, questions have been asked about how the CHS Reunion Picnic got its start. Margie Fairchild (CHS'55) provided a brief history of how the picnic began and its evolution during the years of its existence. We hope you find the following write up and statistics interesting.
MARJORIE HENNING FAIRCHILD (CHS'55) WRITES: The Class of 1955 decided they wanted to get together more often than every five years at their 45th reunion in 2000. So, in July of 2001 a picnic was planned. It was held at Andrew Reilly Memorial Park August 4th. It was to be catered by D&D and I was going to pick up the food. However, three weeks before, I discovered I had another obligation which I had not put on my calendar. (I went to see Bill Mazeroski inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with Mary Schreck.) So, I was not able to be at the first picnic and Cone Appetit catered. There were 31 in attendance. Charged $8.00 per person.
July 27, 2002 was the second picnic at Andrew Reilly Memorial Park with 39 attending. I made sure I was there! It was catered by Executive Chefs Catering, Inc. (terrible!!!) Charged $10.00 per person. Bob Pyle suggested that we invite the two classes before and after ours next year. He was doing our mailings for free. He said to get him 20 names from each of the four classes and he would send them the information and let them notify the rest of their respective classes.
The next picnic was held on July 26, 2003. D&D catered. A favorite appetizer or dessert could be brought to share. We provided pop, beer, lemonade, ice tea, water and coffee. Cost was $10.00 per person. We did not even get names from all four classes. However, what happened was we got requests for other classes to attend. We ended up with 169 attendees from 1942 - 1960. We were a hit!!! Everyone wanted us to continue next year. Also, this was the year we started Share the Wealth with a $126.00 profit.
Because we were getting requests for classes from 1935 to 1960 to attend, we knew we had to move the location to Clairton Park Pavilion and Lodge. The only Saturday available in nice weather was the Saturday before Labor Day. So, it was held September 4, 2004. However, D&D could not cater due to a wedding they were doing. So, T and D's Pub and Grub catered. We had 450 reservations!!! There were so many desserts donated, we had a Bake Sale and made a $109.03 profit. This was also the year we asked everyone to bring their own drinks.
September 3, 2005, we had 544 reservations and the Class of 1960 (Anna Marie Ward Bochter and Ron and Adele Henning Kunz) was then on the committee. D&D has catered ever since. Teacher invitations started being sent.
September 2, 2006 there were 654 reservations and the walk-ins started with 7. Other classes were now involved. Tents were a necessity.
September 1, 2007, we had 732 reservations and 35 walk-ins.
September 6, 2008, we had 601 reservations and 39 walk-ins.
September 5, 2009, we had 576 reservations and 37 walk-ins.
September 4, 2010, we had 667 reservations and 49 walk-ins.
September 3, 2011, was a banner year with 920 reservations and 74 walk-ins. D&D told me they could cater for up to 800. I ordered for 800 and we did not run out of food!! He told me to order 10 less per every 100 as a good caterer will always give you enough food. By this time, we were sharing profits with the classes who had classmates on the committee. (Note from Anna Marie Ward Bochter: Some time later, I'm not sure of the year, all excess funds (if any) were kept in the picnic treasury to defray future picnic expenses. Funds were no longer distributed to class participants.)
September 1, 2012, we had 706 reservations and 102 walk-ins.
From then on, the reservations have been declining as the '30s and '40s are no longer with us and the younger classes are not coming and/or do not want to help. They were also smaller in number.
In addition to Margie Fairchild's write up above, Adele Henning Kunz (CHS'60) provided the following statistics.
2013, 701 reservations and 103 walk-ins.
2014, 658 reservations and 135 walk-ins.
2015, 543 reservations and 107 walk-ins.
2016, 463 reservations and 121 walk-ins.
2017, 434 reservations and 90 walk-ins.
2018, 390 reservations and 118 walk-ins.
2019, 341 reservations and 141 walk-ins.
2020, picnic cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The following statistics are from the CHS Reunion Picnic for 2021 and 2022, provided by Adele Henning Kunz CHS'60.
2021, 276 reservations and 71 walk-ins.
2022, 228 reservations and 72 walk-ins.
2023, 225 reservations and 73 walk-ins.