July 1, 2011_nWLP 6/28/11 10:10 AM Page 8
...Union picnic season
(From Page 1)
ride bracelets are $5. Bingo runs from
noon to 2 p.m. and from 3 to 5 p.m., in-
terrupted at 2 p.m. for door prize draw-
ings, followed by raffle prize drawings.
Members must be present to win the
door prizes, but not the raffle prizes.
NALC B RANCH 82
Sue Canfield, longtime letter carrier
at the post office in Newberg, coordi-
nates the annual picnic for National As-
sociation of Letter Carriers Branch 82.
This year it will take place noon Sun-
day, July 24, at Cook Park, Area 2, in
Tigard, just next to Ball Park 2, where
the local will have its annual softball
match-up starting at 9 a.m. Each postal
station tries to field a team, though
that’s been getting harder, Canfield said:
It’s been so long since the U.S. Postal
Service was doing any serious hiring
that members are older on average than
they used to be. Most years, the event
draws 75 to 150. Chow will include
hamburgers and hot dogs, potluck of-
ferings, and a raffle. For kids and grand-
kids, there’s a game table and water
games, and a “balloon man” who
makes balloon toys for every kid who
wants one. Branch 82 also takes part in
the NOLC picnic, setting up a table and
offering discount tickets for the rides at
Oaks Park.
ATU L OCAL 757
Ever since he went to work at TriMet
18 years ago, diesel mechanic Jeff Hunt
has been volunteering to put on the
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757
picnic. Hunt, 42, said he went to the
ATU picnic every year growing up, be-
cause his father, a TriMet driver who is
now retired, was also a picnic volunteer.
Local 757 represents about 4,400 transit
employees in Oregon and Southwest
Washington, and has one of the larger
picnics around, with 5,000 to 7,000
turning out every year. Eugene area
members bus up to attend. This year, it’s
Sunday Aug. 28, at Blue Lake Park. Ex-
cept for parking, everything is free to
Local 757 members and guests. Food,
including pulled pork, hamburgers, and
hot dogs, is served by Terrel’s Texas
Bar-B-Que, a husband-and-wife caterer
that includes TriMet bus driver Tina
Straughter. There’s also cotton candy
and snow cones. Activities include a
water balloon toss; watermelon eating
PAGE 8
contest; baseball; a game truck with
video games like Guitar Hero; bingo;
and copious prizes: $25, $50, and $100
Toys“R”Us gift cards are given away in
a drawing for kids, and grownups vie
for prizes that include a big screen tele-
vision. Hunt said it takes about two
hours to hand out all the prizes, which
include up to 500 union T-shirts. There
will also be a DJ and dancing, and an
artist who draws your portrait as a car-
toon character.
“We have 24 collective bargaining
agreements,” says Hunt, who serves on
the Executive Board alongside his
brother, Local 757 President Jon Hunt.
“The picnic is a great opportunity to
meet people who work at other loca-
tions. For example, I might talk to a
school bus driver from Salem and com-
pare our situations. It’s the only event
we have that brings that many members
together.”
[Local 757 has a separate well-at-
tended picnic for its retired member
chapter; this year it’s Wednesday, July
6, at Oaks Park.]
NOLC L ABOR D AY PICNIC
The area’s biggest union picnic is
the multi-union Labor Day picnic put
on by Northwest Oregon Labor Coun-
cil. As many as three dozen union lo-
cals will take part in the event, Monday
Sept. 5, at Oaks Park. NOLC reserves
the entire amusement park, and hires
park staff to serve food in the common
area; sales of scrip cover the cost of
food. Scrip is 50 cents each; offerings
this year will include hamburgers and
chips (3 scrip), hot dogs and chili (2),
soda or water (1) and beer (3). In addi-
tion, about 30 local unions reserve an
area for their members and guests, and
some of these serve food as well.
American Red Cross will have two
mobile units on site to collect blood do-
nations.
Entertainment includes bingo,
speeches by elected officials, and of
course, amusement park rides: Deluxe
bracelets are available at a discounted
rate of $9.
Last year NOLC reported estimates
of 20,000 in attendance. As the event
has grown, getting to the park and find-
ing parking have become a challenge.
This year, for the first time, NOLC is
making arrangements for the Oregon
Pacific Railroad to ferry passengers to
Members and families of ATU Local 757 compete in a watermelon eating
contest at the union’s annual picnic at Blue Lake Park.
[Later in the summer, the Northwest
Labor Press will have information
about other Labor Day picnics in the
region.]
games are a focus of the annual event,
which draws about 300. There will also
be a horseshoe tournament at 10 a.m.,
and a retiree group photo at 11:30 a.m.
This year the theme is Cajun, with
plans for Cajun food and a live Zydeco
band. And, back by popular demand,
the local will purchase a steer to bene-
fit 4H, which will then be raffled off as
two quarters and a half. Oh, and ice
cream. Lots of ice cream.
IBEW L OCAL 280
IBEW Local 280 will hold its pic-
nic Saturday, Sept. 10, 12 to 5 p.m., at
Timber-Linn Park in Albany. Kids’
UA L OCAL 290
With members throughout Oregon,
Southwest Washington and Humboldt
and Del Norte counties in California,
Oaks Park from designated parking ar-
eas near Oregon Museum of Science
and Industry. Train tickets will be $2
per passenger. The route, along the
Springwater Corridor, passes through
Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
4,200-member United Association of
Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 290
puts on six picnics altogether. Coos
Bay started the season this year with a
picnic that took place June 25. Next up
is the Springfield-area — July 9 at
Richardson Park in Eugene; then Med-
ford-area members will gather July 16
at Tom Pearce Park in Grants Pass; Eu-
reka, California members meet Aug. 27
at Freshwater Park; and Bend-area
members come out Aug. 28 to
Hollinshead Barn.
Local 290’s biggest picnic is in the
Portland-area, Sept. 11 at Blue Lake
Park. Third generation member John
Kimberling, a Local 290 business
agent, coordinates it, just as his father
did before him. Each year it draws
about 1,000 people. This year’s attrac-
tions include beef brisquet, chicken,
barbecue, and copious quantities of ice
cream. There’s bingo, and a clown, a
face painter, and two bounce houses for
the kids. The local is also making a
dozen canoes available to take out on
the lake.
All the Local 290 picnics run noon
to 4 p.m. At the Springfield and Med-
ford picnics, members whose last
names start with the letters A to M are
asked to bring salads to share, and N to
Z desserts. Bend-area members are
asked to bring desserts, and Eureka
members desserts and salads. No ani-
mals are permitted at Blue Lake Park
or at the Eureka picnic; the other parks
allow pets on leashes. There is a $5 fee
to park in Blue Lake Park.
JULY 1, 2011