HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER

The Annual Picnic

One of the biggest events in my young life during the 1940’s was the annual Martin & Schwartz summer picnic. Martin & Schwartz was the company that moved here from Buffalo, NY in 1939. It was subsequently named Wayne Pump Co., followed by Dresser Industries. The picnic was held at various places such as Sandy Hill in 1948 and Cedar Grove on the Choptank River near Cambridge in 1949. The 1948 picnic had 284 people in attendance, and the records show that about 290 attended in 1949. The festivities were for all of the employees of Martin & Schwartz and their families. It seemed as if everybody that worked there attended. On this special day there were no “bosses”, and the “brass” acted like regular human beings. One of the greatest traits a person can have is to laugh at themselves. Everybody seemed to get a real kick out of seeing someone who is usually so serious entered into the many contests that were held.

There were the usual activities at the picnic, such as the balloon race (pictured above) and a tug-of-war. At Cedar Grove, in 1949, there were motor boat rides. It is still in my memory seeing usually serious men and women acting like children. They had contests geared for the different age groups so that everybody had a chance to enter something. Swimming was also available if you so desired.

The picnics started at 1 P. M. with the commencement of the games and festivities. Socializing with the other members of the Martin & Schwartz “family” was always enjoyable. And that is what it was – a family. Mothers would show off their new additions, and the men would just enjoy themselves for a few hours without the pressures of work. Of course, to us children, just being at the picnic was a new and different experience. I was only four and five during these two picnics, so I imagine I stayed pretty close to Mom.

A fried chicken dinner was served at 5:30, followed by the drawing for the four grand prizes. The prizes consisted of the following: (1948) a $25.00 savings bond, a table radio, a pop-up toaster and a first-grade surf-casting fishing reel and (1949) a $25.00 savings bond, large Pfleuger fishing reel, a portable Philco radio and a fancy aluminum fishing tackle box. The prizes seem pretty paltry by today’s standards, but they were a big deal back in the 1940’s.

I don’t know when they ceased having these picnics, but they were probably lost in the shuffle of all the corporate changes that began to be made in the early 1950’s.