FRENCHVILLE — The 155 annual Frenchville Picnic weekend begins Saturday, July 19, and continues into Sunday, July 20.
The picnic is sponsored by St. Mary Church of the Assumption, Frenchville, and his held at the picnic grove behind the church (65 St. Mary Lane, Frenchville).
Picnic committee chairwoman Mary Kay Royer provided a brief history of the church.
“They (French settlers) came over in 1830, set up the church in 1840, which was all local artisans from the area that actually did the work,” Royer said. “They harvested stone from the quarry.”
Royer explained that usually materials were brought in for such projects of the time and outside individuals built the structures.
The first picnic was celebrating the church, it’s one of the oldest buildings in the Diocese of Erie.
“The picnic went so well, they just continued it,” Royer said.
Royer said the word picnic is taken from the French word, picque-nique, which first appeared at the end of the 17th century. It referred to a fashionable type of social entertainment in which each person who attended brought a share of the food.
In America, picnics were popular in the 1850s. Food might include crackers, cold boiled ham, and tea. Fried potatoes or potato chips were a welcome treat and ice cream was popular.
The picnic continues to grow, and Royer stated, “It wasn’t until about World War II when everybody started to disperse. Genealogy is big right now, so some people have found their roots, a lot have grown up with family that were from Frenchville. We have a lot of people that come in from all over the county, and even other countries as Royer recalled individuals from France had been to picnics.”
Although the weekend officially opens Saturday at 4 p.m. with Mass at St. Mary Church, Royer noted that the Flea Market will be open Friday, June 18, as part of the 28th Annual QIDC 100-Mile Yard Sale.
Following the 4 p.m. Mass, the picnic grove will open at 5 p.m. with a family-night theme.
Throughout the weekend, booths will be set up selling crafts and baked goods. There will be a flea market, bingo, hayrides, kids games and more.
At 6 p.m. the West Branch Band will perform. Royer said that next year is the 250th anniversary of the country, and the West Branch Band performed in 1976.
“That’s kind of cool,” Royer said. “I was excited when they said they would do a concert for us. They’re local kids and we want to support the community.”
The night will come to a close with fireworks scheduled for 10 p.m.
Sunday is a day full of activities, with the main event at noon – the picnic. Individuals can pre-order meals until July 10. Meals can also be purchased the day of the picnic. Pre-order information can be found on the Frenchville Picnic Facebook page.
The meal includes a choice of bar-b-que or oven roasted chicken, or ham. The sides will be mashed potatoes with gravy, noodles, green beans, baked beans, coleslaw, pickled eggs/beets, a roll with butter, and dessert.
“It is a meal that you walk away with a lot of food,” Royer commented.
Registration for the horseshoe tournament begins at 12:30 p.m., with the tournament beginning at 1:30 p.m.
At 1 p.m., Heather Olson and the Silver Eagle Band will perform, followed by music from DJ Vince from 5-9 p.m.
A saw dust money scramble will be held for children ages 12 and under beginning at 6 p.m.
Of the saw dust money scramble, Royer explained that, “there will be three piles of sawdust, and we break the kids into age groups, and the children collect money they find buries in the piles.”
“The parish collects money, and we put a set amount of money in each pile, every year,” said Royer. “The idea behind the scramble was that a lot of families visit the whole weekend, and by late Sunday afternoon, they start running out of funds. Kids can go grab money in the scramble and run to the kid’s games, or do whatever they want like buy ice cream, or they can save the money.”
The night will wind down at 9 p.m. as drawings for the various prizes being given away will take place. Tickets for money prizes are currently on sale and can be purchased by contacting the rectory at 814-263-4354.