GREENFIELD — About a half-hour into Sunday afternoon’s community picnic on the Town Common, organizer Nicole Letourneau was posting on Facebook: “lotsa potluck items for anyone (and everyone) who wants food to share.”
It was supposed to be a “bring-your-own picnic fare” event that was intended as a break from the traditional Free Harvest Supper; but many of the three-dozen-or-so people attending brought extra food for others.
“We decided this year, since the free Harvest Supper was cancelled, we wanted to do something anyway. None of us had the time to do a real Harvest Supper, but people can pull together food for a picnic,” she said. “I really had no idea how it would turn out. I said I would be happy to see 25 people show up. I’m really happy to see so this many people here.”
According to Letourneau, a lot of people pulled together to help make the community picnic happen. She said Tess Gadwa of Yes Exactly helped to “spread the idea” through social networking and to get people energized to volunteer for the Free Harvest Supper next year. Green Fields Market donated food and Big Brothers Big Sisters donated supplies for the event. Jim Zaccara of Hope and Olive donated trash containers and dumpster space. John Lunt of the mayor’s office and Caitlin von Schmidt of the Greenfield Business Association helped with getting permits. The band Daniel Hales and The Frost Heaves offered to play for the picnicking crowd.
Also, previous volunteers from the Harvest Supper assisted. “It was really a group effort,” Letourneau said.
Among those at the picnic was Harvest Supper founder and principal organizer Mary McClintock, eating homemade egg salad and locally grown fruit. She said the event was a low-logistics version of the Free Harvest Supper.
“I’m just glad that we’re here,” she said. “I already have the names of a bunch of people for (the Harvest Supper) next year.”
While many are veterans of the harvest supper, Nate and Emily Longcope had never been to it. They packed their meal, brought extra homemade sauerkraut to share, and sat on a blanket with their daughter, 4-month-old Beatrice, who stared at the musicians doing their sound-checks.
“Her first rock concert,” said her dad, a guitar player. “She loves music.”
“I can see quite a few volunteers from the Free Harvest Supper are sitting down and eating,” Letourneau said. “Maybe that’s what they needed — kind of a break. I know a lot of people that did it and had tons of work. They probably needed a break. Maybe we can get some new volunteers.”
Even the threatening rain seemed to hold off, Letourneau noticed. “My hope was that people could have the most enjoyment with a minimum of work. Everybody’s very busy. Sometimes simple is better.”