Here are a few photographic snippets of our third September picnic held at Lake Anne Pavilion. Once again, this location perfectly suited our group. And once again we got lucky with very nice though slightly muggy weather. About 28 members met. Business was pretty much forgotten for the day, with our main focus for the afternoon fixed squarely on socializing among good friends and sampling delicious dishes. Alan Krishnan served admirably as our emcee and host, helping to award some great door prizes to several happy winners. Our biggest winner was Lamieh Salimi who won a $50 gift card from Gregorio’s Trattoria at North Point Plaza. Nice, Lamieh! Other prizes were smaller gift certificates to Silver Diner and Virginia Kitchen restaurants, a few bottles of wine, some tasty cookies and finally, a copy of USE member Pat Williams’ book, Say the Right Thing, a great guide for those situations when you just don’t quite know what to say.

Picnicking members, photos above, left to right: Dave Bush, Beth Balmer, Janet Cochran, and Alice Markham. Laura Gutnick, Alan Krishnan (our host for the afternoon), and Lamieh Salimi (our big prize winner). Lamieh and Alan. Gail Vogel and Ricky (Ruth) Dahne. Steve Hanft. Ricky Dahne, Art Banks and Judy Gulbis. Ann Webster. Bill Whyte and Joyce Wilkinson (that’s Alan leaning in to speak with Carol Berman). and Gar Young – just a few of about 28 members who attended. Photos were taken by Ruth Sievers and Jim Seret.