The 116th Hiddenwood Picnic
Submitted by Denise Johnson
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Harvey Johnson selling raffle tickets at Hiddenwood Picnic.
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The 116th Annual Hiddenwood Picnic was held on Father’s Day,
June 17, 2018 at the picnic grounds south of Makoti at Hiddenwood Lake. The
crowd attendance only numbered at around 100, but everyone had a good day. An
All Faith Church service led by Pastor John Warner started the day-long event.
Lovely hymns and sermon got people into a good mood for the rest of the day.
Shortly after the church service, lunch was set up and what
a feast it was! The potluck picnic produced tables full of a delicious variety
of eats, from casseroles, salads, pizza, fried chicken and much more. The
dessert table was equally impressive. Nobody went away hungry after the potluck
lunch.
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Doug Wurtz describing past Hiddenwood Picnics.
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Doug Wurtz, a local boy, now from Bismarck, was the entire
program this year. He informed the crowd of the history of the first picnic
held on the grounds in the early 1900’s. Stories were not too glamorous or even
civilized from that time period. Stories of fights, politicians and “blind
pigs” held the attention of the crowd. Indian pow-wows were also held with
local natives sharing their dances. Of course, food was also shared in picnic
fashion with many people in attendance numbering into the hundreds and even the
thousands in future years. Doug has put hundreds of hours into the research of
the history of the Hiddenwood Picnic as it happened over the many years of its
existence. He is involved as a volunteer at the North Dakota Heritage Center in
Bismarck and has searched the archives for previous years newspaper entries
about the picnic and other history of the area of Hiddenwood.
There were many prizes given away to those who registered
for the drawings. The prizes were donated and collected from businesses at
Ryder, Makoti, Parshall, Plaza, Garrison and Minot. A few more prizes came from
other sources. There also were quite a few raffle drawings, including a
spectacular quilted wall hanging donated by Sharleen Larson. Photos of the
picnic grounds’ church, sod house, monument to early homesteaders and more
highlighted this quilt. Beautiful only begins to describe the work put into
this piece.
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Hiddenwood Picnic kids foot races with Johnny McGrath in the
lead.
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Kids ran in foot races with quarters for their efforts at
the finish line. Not only did the kids race but a couple of women “hoofed it”
to the finish line to be awarded quarters.
To finish this day, the Famous Hiddenwood Ladies’ Pie was
for sale by the slice, with or without ice cream atop. Many flavors tempted the
crowd. An ice cream cone was a cool option too.
Overall, the picnic has been deemed a success with hopes and
plans for picnic #117 next year. We’ll keep you posted.
