Our 2nd annual partnership with the Mayo Clinic Summer Picnic was another great event. Food was supplied by Mayo Clinic, and ice cream by Culver’s. We had many kids come and go, a total of 20. Most were little girls who, of course, jumped all over the opportunity to get nails painted, makeup put on, and crowned with tiaras. Our favorite female firefighter was there on her day off to help the little girls feel like queens. She brought the kids a ton of stuffed animals and was as excited as the kids to be in attendance.

The police department brought a K-9 unit again this year and performed some obedience drills for the crowd. The firefighters and police officers both gave tours of their emergency vehicles. There were even parents excited to jump inside the vehicles!

Back in the courtyard, we had bean bag toss, chalk, inflatable bowling, and relay race stations set up. Firefighters and police officers battled little ones, and themselves, in bean bag toss.

Once again, the biggest hit was the relay race, which took place at the end, between the police department team and the firefighter team. The police team consisted of a little girl and two police officers, while the firefighter team consisted of a little girl and two firefighters. One firefighter and one police officer stood at one end of the race, while the other two teammates took turns running objects, such as hula hoops, rings, beads, hats, sunglasses, and grass skirts, down to the other end and placing on the standing teammate. Once all the items were on the standing member, he/she ran to the other end. The race ended with the firefighter team winning by a half a second, bringing a roar from the remaining crowd.

Again, this event was a big hit, and many kids and family members had a blast. We will continue to host this event in conjunction with the picnic and will likely be back before then. We saw 5 boys and 15 girls.