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by Terri Hogan
Senior Staff Writer
The Women’s Board supporting MedStar Montgomery Medical Center has announced that its 100th Picnic and Bazaar has been rescheduled to July 27 of next year.
The event was originally planned for July 28, as it is traditionally held on the fourth Tuesday in July. In May, the Women’s Board announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event would be postponed until Oct. 3, but that the board would continue to monitor county and state conditions and guidelines.
Current Phase 2 guidelines and eventual Phase 3 guidelines regarding gatherings would drastically restrict the size of the event.
“Obviously, a successful [Picnic and Bazaar] depends on hundreds, if not thousands of attendees,” event co-chairwomen Dee Hawkins and Christine Hill Wilson wrote in a letter to key volunteers and vendors. “With the limitations by the county and also recognizing that individuals are going to still be hesitant to go out and particularly to go out to a large gathering, we feel the prudent thing to do at this time is to reschedule the Women’s Board 100th Picnic & Bazaar to July 27, 2021.”
The event, a popular summertime tradition that began in 1920 as the Hospital Supper, offers its famous fried chicken and other picnic fare, entertainment, a book sale, plant and fresh produce sale, Kiddie Land, antiques and more.
The Women’s Board is a volunteer service organization that raises funds to benefit the hospital and a scholarship fund through the Picnic and Bazaar, the hospital gift shop, the thrift shop and Gifts of Light program.
The organization has donated more than $20 million to the hospital over the past century.