Traditions are an important part of life. We all have events in our lives that take place for which we look forward to hosting, attending, or participating in.

Some are recent, like the inaugural or second annual some-such event. Others have been around for a while, such as the 23rd annual) Race for the Cure.

Some others have lasted scores of years. Then there's the great-great granddaddy of them all, the "Mother of all Picnics" -- the annual Clarksville Picnic, a tradition that has spanned the last 131 years.

A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make an event such as this as successful as it has been. Planning for the next years' picnic starts almost as soon as the previous one is over. There are committee meetings, both large and small, throughout the year.

Then, two weeks before the day of the picnic, one starts to see some activity up at St. Louis Catholic Church -- the White Elephant tent goes up, people start to drop off items, the parking fields get mowed, electric poles get erected, etc. culminating in the raising of the big-top food tent. Inside the school, rooms get set up to hold many of the items that get dropped off.

Recently, I stopped by for a visit, to see for myself the preparations taking place. My first stop what the "Christmas in June" room, located in one of the classrooms down the hallway from the Howard Bishop room. In there, I found three ladies hard at work -- Jennie Gait, the lead person, Margaret Leishear and Connie Shemansky. Jennie and Margaret have been volunteering at the picnic since they were little. Now, they've taken the responsibility for the Christmas room as "their turf" (my words, not theirs).

These ladies work hard at making the room look like Christmas. They clean each item that comes in, price them and then arrange them in a nice display. Collectively, they have been doing the Christmas items for more than 10 years.

I wandered down the hall and found Sandy Kendall, the "chief cook and bottle washer" as she described herself, running a vacuum cleaner. She was just finishing up the "Book Room" when I interrupted her work. She has been volunteering at the picnic since she was a little girl and has been working at the White Elephant for around 20 years now.

"What many people don't realize is that it takes between 60 and 100 volunteers to make the White Elephant a success," Sandy said. "You know, it's not about making money -- it's about community and relationship-building. That's what this picnic is really all about."

We chatted for a few more minutes and then I left her to her work and wandered into the auditorium where I found Theresa Durcotte and Hilda Mathieu. Theresa and Hilda have been volunteering at the White Elephant for at least 30 years. We talked about volunteering at the picnic.

"We're starting to see 'young blood' helping out," Theresa said. She pointed over towards the front of the room where Beth Moynihan, a seventh-grader at St. Louis School, was busy doing "stuff."

So, I excused myself and walked over to chat with Beth. She was working on taping plastic clothes hangers when I interrupted her.

"I've been helping out now about three years, since around fourth grade," she said. As she said that, I thought, "that's the way to do it -- get 'em while they're young."

After chatting with Beth, I walked outside and found Paul Sobus, working curb-side and accepting donated items from people who were dropping them off.

Paul has been working the outside White Elephant tent for about five or so years. Skip Scarpone, the gentleman who is "in charge," had already left for the day. They accept almost any item for sale, except for TVs and computers and computer-related accessories.

As one who has also worked at the White Elephant, please clean the items prior to dropping them off.

After talking with Paul for a minute or two, I hopped back on my motorcycle and headed home. The date for the picnic is Saturday, June 27. The main food tent opens at noon and continues serving until 7 p.m. (or when the food runs outs; of course, I don't know that it's ever happened, but there's always a 'first time). The cost of the all-you-can eat ham and fried chicken dinner is $12 for persons aged 11 and older, $6 for ages 5-11. Take-out is also available. While you're there, stop by my personal favorite, the White Elephant book sale.

By the way, happy belated Father's Day, to all you dads out there.

That's all for this week. Have a safe summer. Look after your neighbors. Say a prayer our troops who are serving in harm's way. And remember their families, too. Pay it forward and commit a random act of kindness.

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