The Oak Lawn Raiders Social and Athletic Club (S.A.C) is hosting its Winter Picnic. The event will take place from 1 to 6 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Homestead Barr, 9306 Central Ave. in Oak Lawn.
Greetings, fellow Oak Lawnians!
The Oak Lawn Raiders Social and Athletic Club (S.A.C) is hosting its Winter Picnic. The event will take place from 1 to 6 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Homestead Barr, 9306 Central Ave. in Oak Lawn.
Mike Neu is a long-standing member of the Raiders and long-time chairman for the Winter Picnic. Mike said he became interested in joining the Raiders after attending several of its functions with his brother-in-law. Now, more than 20 years later, Mike is still an active member in the club, which has about 55 members from Oak Lawn and nearby communities, plus a wait list.
The Winter Picnic is the organization’s first fundraiser of the year and the event usually brings out a couple hundred people. “The worse the weather, the better the turnout we have,” said Neu. In fact, he’s not at all concerned that this year’s Winter Picnic falls on Valentine’s Day. “I think we actually may have more people turn out because it is Valentine’s Day,” Neu said.
The Raiders pride themselves on doing all the cooking for the Winter Picnic. “All the food is cooked by the Raiders. We’ll have barbecued ribs, chili, deep fried turkey, Italian sausage, macaroni and cheese, chicken wings, corn on the cob, garlic bread and hot dogs,” Neu said.
This year’s picnic is “probably the 40th year of us hosting it,” so the Raiders have planning it pretty much down to a science, he said. Heated tents need to be set up, along with fire pits, and there’s quite a bit of precooking done the day before. “We try to get every Raider to come out to help us set-up – it takes about 40 people who put in a lot of work,” Neu said.
The picnic will feature a DJ, raffles throughout the day, and possibly a couple Valentine’s Day events. Children and families are welcome. Neu said they usually try to have a couple activities for the kids. “Hopefully, we’ll get a good turnout. We’ll have great food and lots of fun. If you’ve never experienced being there, you’ll want to come back next year,” he said.
The Club’s main purpose is to raise money for charities and people in need in Oak Lawn and nearby communities. Most of the proceeds raised from the Winter Picnic will go toward the Oak Lawn Raiders Memorial Scholarship which is administered by the Oak Lawn Spartan Educational Foundation. Remaining funds will go toward “smaller charities throughout the south suburbs,” Neu said.
The admission donation for the Winter Picnic is $20 per person, $30 per couple and $40 for a family and can be purchased the day of the event at the Homestead Barr. For more information, call Neu at 708-205-4887 or visit the Raiders’ website at www.raiderssac.com
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Keep your fellow Oak Lawnians informed about birthdays, special events or special “stuff” going on with your family or within the community. Call me at (708) 899-9544.
Until next time …
Cheryl Petzel is a freelance writer who covers the Oak Lawn community for the Daily Southtown.