The annual Flush Picnic Chicken Dinner took place Sunday as hundreds showed up for an evening of food, games, raffles, auctions and fellowship to benefit the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church parish.
Despite the pandemic scaling the event back to a drive-thru-based format last year, 2021 saw a big return with both a drive-thru and traditional dinner taking place.
In addition to the traditional dinner, participants could also take part in yard games, bingo, a silent auction, quilt raffle, bake sale and much more.
Long-time Flush Picnic volunteer Mary Siderewicz says they decided to keep moving forward with the event despite rising COVID-19 case numbers.
The event is largely put on by a combination of St. Josephs’s Catholic Church parishioners and Knights of Columbus members.
According to Siderewicz, past picnics have brought in about 1,000 people, with one in particular hitting the 1,200 mark.
Knights of Columbus member Tony Reitz, who has helped cook food for the picnic for the past five or six years, says preparing such a large meal can be stressful.
However much stress there may be, Reitz says it is amazing to be part of the community and production.
Despite all that goes into the picnic, from the hundreds of people in attendance to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, first-year participant Rachelle Brooks says it ran “like a well-oiled machine.”
