September 8, 2004
Holiday picnic lasting tradition
Generations of four families gather each Labor Day weekend
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
The 50th annual Labor Day picnic at the Franz home Sunday afternoon was a winning four-by-four combo: four generations of four area families gathered for food, fun and fellowship.
For five decades, members of multiple generations of the Taylor, Franz, Wise and Wagner families earmark one day of the holiday weekend to get together. From swimming and barbecuing to storytelling and laughter, the picnics wind up the summer in style.
"It's really been a fun thing," said Arlene Franz, this year's host and one of the founding generation. "We've been together on Labor Day for a long time. Well, we're just like relatives now."
From the days when four young couples forged fast friendships in a new town to great grandchildren romping and getting acquainted with one another, the picnics have endured.
"Rather than reading parenting books, they started this," said Donna (Franz) Flynn of Traverse City, of her parents and their friends. "It really was a support group."
The 14 kids of that second generation grew up together, bonding over the annual slumber parties, out-of-this-world underdogs and games that characterized the gatherings.
Not to mention the paper plate signing.
A sub tradition amongst the large tradition is signing and sending a paper plate to members who cannot be present. This usually means the children and grandchildren of the original four couples who have grown up and headed out of town to college. This year's picnic will generate at least eight paper plates for grandchildren who could not attend because of college or work commitments.
Receiving that first much-anticipated paper plate has become a rite of passage for two generations.
"It tells you about something you missed or makes a joke," said Kim (Wagner) Olson of Holland.
Flynn remembers taking her unopened mail to a college class one year after she received a paper plate.
"I remember whipping mine out in biology class and getting all these looks," she said. "You were so embarrassed but happy to get one."
For years the growing group met at parks, including one in Long Lake Township and later in Suttons Bay. Then each of the principal families moved to property on the water and the picnics began to rotate among their homes.
Arlene Franz remembers inviting the Taylors over for the first picnic at her Sixth Street home for Labor Day in 1954. She said her husband, Doug, and Ken Taylor, both osteopathic doctors, practiced together and the families became fast friends. Then the Wises came to town and joined the group within a year or two.
In 1960, the Taylors, Franzes and Wises, welcomed Bill Wagner, another osteopathic doctor.
"Bill Wagner wasn't married at the time but he started coming, then he got married and his family came," recalled Franz. "It's been a nice group, good friends and we help one another when we need help and it is just a nice thing."
Even with the death of three spouses from the first generation - LouAnn Taylor, Doug Franz and Liz Wagner - the tradition continued. The missing members have been memorialized with rhododendron bushes planted in the Leland town square in their honor.
Food is another tradition for these Labor Day picnickers, who have actually moved the meeting to Sundays to accommodate out-of-town travelers. Each family brings the same thing year after year, such as Arlene Franz supplying the desserts - including her famous chocolate cake.
Feeding the stomach is always secondary to feeding the soul, however.
"This has been a thing that's stood the test of time," added Flynn, a member of the Baby Boomer generation. "There was a time when you were much too busy to come, college or were tired because you were working and had young children. But now we're realizing how important it is and we've been coming back."