April 2003

Picnic Day open house draws thousands

	With intense focus, a young girl creates art from seeds at Picnic Day 2002. (Debbie Aldridge/UC Davis Mediaworks)

In a very short while UC Davis will strut its stuff on its own unique "holiday" called Picnic Day. The daylong extravaganza, on Saturday, April 12, is organized by students and features a parade, a rip-roaring showdown among college bands, seven music and dance stages, and a remarkable range of academic exhibits from a chemistry magic show to robot races.

The university's open house is believed to be the largest student-run event in the country.

Keri Groh, a graduating senior and chair of this year's Picnic Day, is a whirlwind of activity, but she is not too busy to reflect on how it all began.

"The first Picnic Day was in 1909. I heard it was a weenie roast. From a small thing like that, it grew to 50,000 people coming to campus. ... I think that's amazing."

Students chose "Rock the Picnic" as this year's theme to highlight diversity and the role of music as a universal language. Once the theme was chosen, there was more work including auditioning musicians, arranging venues and even locating chairs. Above all, Groh's job has been to mold her 17-member board of student organizers into an efficient team.

Most of Groh's tasks are laden with tradition, a good thing but sometimes overwhelming. She wants to preserve beloved animal events, retain the more than 65 exhibits by academic departments and ride with her co-workers in a successful parade. Suddenly, weather matters: "I'm not going to die if it rains, but I sure hope it will be sunny like last year."

More than anything, she wants to preserve the intangible tradition of Picnic Day as a moment in time when the best spirit of UC Davis is available for all to see. In this desire, she follows a host of predecessors.

Erika Ammirati, for example, was a junior in 1974 when she took on the job of parade chair. Like current organizers, she bonded fiercely with her team. "We were all frenzied at the same time; we all collapsed at the same time."

Ammirati's connection to Picnic Day remained unusually strong. She married the man she was dating while organizing the parade, and he was the son of John Louis Ammirati, who chaired Picnic Day in 1946.

In the first fifty years of Picnic Day, the chair was always a male student. This year girls rule, holding 12 of 17 board positions and dominating the five-person team of veterinary students who manage one of the most popular events, the dachshund races.

	Dogs and owners parade past the stands before the Doxie Derby. (Debbie Aldridge/UC Davis Mediaworks)

Doxie Derby, as it is called, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, featuring dozens of awkward, short-legged competitors who pursue a simulated rabbit down the floor of Recreation Hall.

Heather MacFarlane, who is heading up the Doxie Derby, has no plans to tamper with tradition. There will be defending champions, t-shirts, prizes and what she says is everyone's favorite: "watching the dogs, especially when they run the wrong way very fast."

Returning dogs become a little wiser about how to win the race, but none has yet captured a college degree. Picnic Day leaders, on the other hand, graduate and go on to use their skills in organization, detail management and problem-solving in a variety of professions and volunteer organizations.

Groh plans to become a school psychologist and expects to be well prepared to work in a team. Ammirati used her skills, especially the ability to "think on your feet," to become a regulatory consultant.

All benefited personally from a day that also showcases the best of UC Davis, from academics to exuberance, of both animals and people.

"Coming to see the school through Picnic Day is a huge opportunity to learn what Davis is all about," Groh says.

"Picnic Day pulls a little string of your heart," Ammirati adds. "That's why people come back."

Top of page

Return to previous page