Picnic in the Park

Sunday was the annual Picnic in the Park, with a free classical music concert in Forsyth Park. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people show up with blankets, chairs, coolers of food, and candles to enjoy the music. This year, the Green Hummer was there! There’s a contest for the most creative picnic, but you have to register early to be considered. The Green Hummer crew procrastinates too much. Plus, they wouldn’t want to steal first place from someone else!

The night started about 5:00 with Patrick, Danyelle, Jarrod, and Stephen loading up the Green Hummer for the concert. The crew stuffed the Hummer with 4 plastic patio chairs, their matching table, a blanket, a couple board games, and some other random stuff. Since HQ is only a few blocks from the end of the Park, the Hummer was there in just a couple minutes!

To keep the homemade H2 from being a problem the crew set up in the rear of the crowd, and to the far left side of the field where the stage was set up. Hummers take up a lot of space, and even this one isn’t transparent.

Danyelle and Jarrod had a great idea. They brought along a few yards of green fabric and a couple of bamboo poles and make a canopy for the Green Hummer, like a pedal-powered camper. A little creative knot-tying, and the Green Hummer was customized!

Patrick and Stephen walked across Forsyth to Kroger and bought some sandwich supplies, snacks and drinks. Chiaw and Fred were there, buying supplies for an all-nighter for mid-terms, and couldn’t stop by to visit with the Hummer. When Patrick and Stephen got back, Mark and Margaret had visited, as well as Will and a few other friends. Everyone comes to Forsyth during the Picnic in the Park!

Once it got dark, a little oil lamp supplied some illumination, as well as the Green Hummer’s lights. Stephen had replaced the car battery, damaged by vandals two weeks before, and unplugged the front lights so the amber running lights would light up the crew’s area, but the fog lights wouldn’t annoy anyone else at the Park. A trivia game supplied some additional entertainment. Cortney also came by and took a break from her mid-terms with the GHP crew.

After the concert, the Hummer crew continued on with the games while most of the audience worked their way out of the park. Once things had cleared up, the picnic supplies were loaded back in. Since the Green Hummer had never been through Forsyth, the crew decided to run down the main sidewalk area. Usually such riding might result in a lecture by a police officer, but it was Picnic in the Park! The Hummer was pedalled around the fountain for the first time Sunday night.

The last part of the Hummer’s ride was a good test for the new welds and new front wheels. Jarrod and Stephen pedalled themselves, Danyelle, Patrick, and all of the picnic supplies through the park, and down the curb at Bull and Gaston Streets. No problems! Danyelle even sat in the patio chairs as the Hummer went down the street. The new repairs seem to hold up well, and the pedalling was smooth. A very short ride on Sunday, only 1.1 miles, but a good one!