A centennial celebration for Picnic Day

Photo by Mehdi Vahab via Creative Commons.
Photo by Mehdi Vahab via Creative Commons.
By Ashley Han and Krystal Lau,
Bluedevilhub.com Editor and Staff—

The UC Davis campus filled with thousands of people from all ages to enjoy more than 200 events, which included exhibits, competitions, demonstrations, entertainment, animal and athletic events, a parade and more. This year is the 100th anniversary of Picnic Day.

The purpose of this annual event is for UCD to be an open house for the university; people can come in and see what expertise the university has and also to just visit the campus. It has been a day for UCD to show its diversity and achievements about its research, teaching, service and campus life.

Greenhouse Manager Garry Pearson shared about the Department of Plants and Sciences at Picnic Day.

“Picnic Day is a very special day for me personally because it allows me to tell the story of what goes on here in Department of Plants and Sciences. My role as a support staff person allows me to grow almost 5,000 tomato transplants for giveaway. What that means is it tells a story of what plant sciences is and what it means to grow things in the ground,” Pearson said.

In addition to the university’s various events, Davis High students participated in different aspects of Picnic Day. Junior Julian Sommer believes Picnic Day is a “good way to show off the campus and show the different strengths we have at UC Davis.”

“The main purpose [of Picnic Day] I think really is to reach out to the community, especially kids, so that we can encourage more people to join the music program,” Sommer said.

Senior Ale Ruiz helped out at the Mondavi Center Concerts, Comedy and Instrument event where the Monavi Center celebrates with the UCD Symphony Orchestra, comedy, local bands, building tours and an instrument petting zoo.

“I came to the petting zoo because I really want kids to learn about music because I heard about music when I was a little kid, through high school students and I thought that was really cool […] Everyone comes to Picnic Day so everyone has a chance to play with the instruments,” Ruiz said.

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