The DiCarlo Picnic
Toddy Jones Park
Sun. Aug. 27, 2017

A look into an exciting new venue:
The Toddy Jones Park

Administration Stuff

• It was booked at the basic rate of $151.95 (tax & insurance included) to secure the last Sunday date available for 2017.  This price and our contract does not include a liquor license.  We've hid things from our folks before, so this can be worked around.

 

• If we were to have the grandchildren of Nano & Tatone DiCarlo pay for the pavilion/ park rental space to throw our parents and aunts and uncles the party, it is $5 each.  It would be awesome if everyone could pay just that amount equally more to share the equality of co-hosting this party altogether, for them.

 

• If you cannot make it at some point throughout the day, then consider sending a card, postcard or letter that will be put on display for them to read.  Please ensure that you mail it a week or two beforehand so it'll arrive  in time or consider hand-delivering it to your parents or siblings, for them to bring.  It would be simple and special that everyone show that the grandkids know how important the family bond is to them and that everyone was there in some way.  Email option below.

 

• We could work on a video to show during lunch that day.  Please dig up a few old video clips, photos of our childhood or our parents as kids, and recount memories and send them by email.
  

Park & Pavilion Amenities

• We have exclusive use of the covered pavilion and 6 large picnic tables starting at 10am.  The pavilion holds about 70 people comfortably, but because it'll be a beautiful day, there are mature trees for shade or picnic tables nearby also.  Consider picnic blankets & chairs for something very different for them to try out!

 

• The pavilion has a double sided-grill that will be the DiCarlo's heart of the party.  Each family can focus on what they want to BBQ, eat, build, or order to eat.  If you want to do something more coordinated, please express that on the RSVP form below.  If they really insist on making or bringing something, then tell them to bring 'cookies' or dessert just like they would as a guest to any party! 

 

• There are men's and women's change rooms and washrooms facilities on the premises.

 

• There is a water splash pad and several jungle-gyms over rubberized surface for the youngest DiCarlos.

 

•  There is ample free parking around the entire perimeter of the park and along Dalhousie Street.

 

• All by-laws of the Town of Amherstburg are in effect in this public park space and you are subject to being responsible because our parents are around!  And we wouldn't want the word to get to the Mayor and the other DiCarlo family!

Connect with early conversations
10:30am - 12 pm

The DiCarlo Picnic is back!
Anytime after 10am
Cousin leader coordinating:  Can anyone help?
If you're one of the first cousins at the pavilion, you're the first hosts to welcome the aunts and uncles to The DiCarlo Big Italian Picnic.  Good luck with discussing the reasons why we're not at The Verdi Club with the early birds.  The rest of us will hopefully be there shortly.

Sweet table is always open
Officially always open after 10:30am
Cousin leader coordinating aunts:  Melissa DiCarlo
This is the perfect place where the aunts can have a place they can keep busy.  Please direct any desserts that they bring to the table that will have coffee and water.  You can connect early over coffee and pizzelles ahead of lunch if you're a good niece or nephew.  We're certain that Aunt Lucy & Aunt Ann will be passing desserts out as soon as they arrive.  They definitely are nano's daughter for sure!

Connect over food
12 - 2 pm
music & open mic with DJ Paul honouring
the best entertainer ever, Zio Remo

Fire up the grills, Italian-style
Grills on at 11:45am, Lunch starts 12:30pm
Cousin leaders coordinating: Jeff & Steph Parete
Please bring what you and your family want to eat and drink for lunch, this includes your special guest parent(s).  This is different than they're familiar with, but bring blankets and pillows if you really want to test the limits.  There are charcoal pits in the pavilion, pizza places can deliver, you can pack sangwiches or salads.  And yes, if they want to bring pasta, they're more than welcome to!  Don't forget plates & utensils and ice for coolers. Let's aim to eat about 12:30 altogether.  Please note that we'll have an extension cord but there are not many electrical outlets.   "A family that eats together, stays together."

DiCarlo team prayer
About 12:30pm
Cousin leader coordinating: Amanda DiCarlo
"A family that prays together, stays together."
The religion and faith we were raised in was very much a part of our lives and may continue to be in your families with your own children.  Regardless of what our beliefs are today, prayer is rooted in the positive intentions of affirmations and showing gratitude.  If you want to include an intention for our group prayer before we eat, please include that in your RSVP.  The youngest and oldest of each generation in attendance will lead the prayer.  Uncle Sandy and Aunt Lucy should find the youngest DiCarlos to come and help them out.

Live from Lyon: Meet the newest DiCarlo via Skype at 1pm EST
Cousin leader coordinating: Danielle Diotte
Sophie and Nicolas are gearing up for a busy summer ahead.  Aunt Rose is taking her first trip across the Atlantic in July as she was born in Canada and wasn't on that trans-Atlantic boat.  They are expecting the arrival of our cousin around July 9, 2107.  They'll be connecting live via Skype around 1:00pm EST towards the end of our lunch.  To check out Sophie's story (which will be updated when Aunt Rose visits France for the baby's arrival), visit them here.

Scavenger Hunt for Family Trivia
Starts at 1:30pm
Cousin leader coordinating: Help? Linda or Dana?
To change the pace from food to play, we'll get into groups to see who can get their checklist of trivia done first with the correct answers to some unique facts about the legends & the myths of our DiCarlo history.  Questions could range from how many Dan's and Grace's are names in our family lineage for given first or middle names? Or How old was Uncle Joe when he crossed on that boat?  What are the middle names of all of  Uncle Frank's grandchildren?  This will be a great way for the littlest ones to meet the family and practice communicating in authentic new ways.

Connect through move & play
2 - 5 pm
Sign up for the 1st Annual Zio Joe Memorial Bocce Tourney

Memorial &  waterfront walk
1k & 3k walks (2-3pm)
Cousin leader coordinating 1km: can anyone help?
Cousin leader coordinating 3km: help? Rose Melo?
Amherstburg's waterfront is one of the best walks in Essex County.  In honour of the DiCarlo's strength in numbers approach to everything in life, we'll depart as a family once we're assembled near the corner of Laird & Dalhousie Streets, but still in the park.  The walk to the memorial stone in the King's Navy Yard (with a pit-stop at iconic Waterfront Ice Cream) should take about 30-45mins and can be modified into a 1 km stroll or others to do 3-5 km through downtown Amherstburg streets on a memory tour of iconic places in our parent's lives and memories starting with General Amherst High.

Zio Joe 1st Memorial Bocce Tourney
Games at 3pm; Finals at 4pm
Cousin leader coordinating: Susie or Lisa?
Cousin leader coordinating: Mary or Dan?
Uncle Joe had a passion for bocce.  In many ways, his story is similar to Zio Remo and Tatone in that they immigrated as young men to a foreign country for a better life.  But it wasn't without its challenges.  This tourney is 4-member teams that will be assigned a different limitation challenge (blind-folded, forced to play with non-dominant hand, feet instead of hands and so on).  Teams & challenges assigned after lunch based on participants.  Hopefully Uncle Tony and Aunt Angie  can be the official games referee.  Interest on RSVP form.

Perfect in case of a brief rain shower
All afternoon stating at 2pm
Cousin leader supervisor: Mary DiMarco
Please bring a deck or two if you know you're parents would like to play Briscola or Scopa or English cards.  If there's a strong interest or they get really passionate, someone may have to intervene with Uncle Jesse and Aunt Nicky playing as partners.
If you've got young ones, maybe pack indoor games or colouring books or puzzles as well. 

Postcards from the picnic
All afternoon starting at lunch
Cousin leader coordinating: Jason Parete
This can be another great filler if it drizzles a little, or to give the kids a break out of the sun.  GoBe Greetings delivers greetings made by children and adults to  the homeless community on the streets or in shelters, and tonew immigrants centres.  To check out more info on this free community program that GoBe Greetings does, you can visit that page here.

To recap the event so far...

• :We agreed in majority of 30 cousins to host the reunion/ picnic for our parents and carry the DiCarlos forward.  It would cost $5 each to cover the cost of the pavilion.  We're at 20 of 30 cousins saying 'yes' so far.  Please continue to reach out to your siblings to make sure they are aware of this.

• Remember to coordinate everything your family will need including requests for your folks (food for lunch, plates & cutlery, ice for coolers, blankets & chairs, bug spray, bathing suits & SPF protection, stuff to do if it briefly/ lightly rains (decks of cards, colouring books for kids, board games), drinks for hydration, walking shoes if you go on the memorial walks).

• Information as it changes throughout the summer will be adjusted on this website.  The website pages should be up to date a few days before the picnic on Aug. 27, 2017 so check on what to expect for the picnic the night before or the morning of if you have any questions.   A replacement web link will be used to invite everyone after July 7th that will not have the planning stuff on it.   It can be used at that time to invite tech literate parents and/or kids & grand-kids so they are a part of the same communication and transparency as everyone else in the family.

 

• Errors to be corrected:  If you see something that is inaccurate, not sensitively presented or confusing and not conveyed clearly, please email Jason or text him 647-567-9329 to adjust it.  You can check back here in a few weeks to see some of the changes being made to the activities, time, and so on based on the consensus of feedback gathered below.

 

•  This is a new format as we are co-hosts responsible for bringing this back to life in a new way:

1.   We are using technology to convey invites & info so there's clear communication & interactivity,
2.   We're allowing opportunities to plan together based on consensus specifically for this year,
3.   There's a chance to be a part of the reunion even if you or your family cannot be at the picnic,
4.   We're encouraging people connect to activities they like rather than what's appropriate to sex or age, etc.
5.   We're having it at a different location for uniquely different reasons,
6.    We've changed the generation that's hosting the event so the focus can be unique to where we are and who we are as a family and to be collective role-models for all DiCarlos - not only our kids/grand-kids but for our parents too. 

Please jump in to get involved to make this year's event memorable for our parents.  We are co-hosting the event altogether - DiCarlo style.  See below... ​


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