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Picnic makes special day for special people

Sometimes, meaningful service can be as simple as a picnic in the park.

The Kiwanis Club of Wausau, Golden K, Wisconsin, confirms this year after year when it hosts the “Special Day for Special People” picnic. Now nearing its 25th year, this event for physically and mentally challenged citizens of Central Wisconsin boasts attendance of more than 160.

The four-hour event kicks off at 9:30 a.m. at the county fairgrounds. Guests, ranging from teenagers to adults well into their 50s, arrive on buses from several health facilities, with parents, or with staff members from group homes. Medical personnel accompany many of the participants to ensure medications are not missed.

The picnic activities include dancing and games like bingo, with lots of prizes donated by businesses or purchased by the Kiwanians.

The picnic lunch itself is traditional: hot dogs and chips with cake and ice cream to follow. Plus one of the most popular components of the event: the popcorn wagon. The Kiwanis Club of Wausau loans the wagon and donates popping corn, oil, and condiments, says Wausau Golden K member Roger Drayna.

“We have to have a lot of popcorn ready by the time the guests start arriving, because we are their first stop,” he says. “(The Wausau club) also has a member who serves as the ‘guardian angel’ should any difficulty arise.”

The event is near and dear to the members of the club, especially charter member Bill Manuel. Bill’s son, now in middle age, is one of the picnic guests.

Because Bill had firsthand knowledge of the need families of special people have for activities, Roger notes, he was a key component of launching the picnic in the 1980s.

Having been in operation for more than two decades, the Special Day for Special People has become a fixture for many residents of Wausau.

“We’re a small enough community that we run into some of these folks downtown or at other events,” Roger says. “Their first comment is, ‘Are you going to hold that picnic again?’”