6/18/2007:
A group of North Dakota residents celebrated their east-coast origins on this day in 1903. The group met at Fargo in carloads to begin their annual trek to Detroit for the New England Picnic. Everyone in the bunch had traveled to the state from the New England states at some time, and the picnic gave the nostalgic residents a chance to reunite, but also to eat the New England foods that they missed so dearly on the plains.
The North Dakota group stopped in Moorhead along on the way and picked up twenty more former New Englanders. They then drove all day to reach Detroit that evening. Along the way, the merry bunch sang popular colonial songs from New England, including “The Sword of Bunker Hill.” They also used the occasion to catch up with one another, as many of them remembered the same people and places back in New England. Upon reaching Detroit, the group met up with an additional thirty New Englanders. The following morning was spent boating on the lakes. Captain West conducted tours through the lakes on a small steamer, as well as a gas-powered boat. The group served lunch at noon, and this consisted of many northeastern dishes. The meal was a pot-luck of sorts, with each individual bringing their own picnic basket of New England delicacies to share. Mr. Perley of Moorhead entertained the group by singing several eastern tunes. At one point, “it was declared that no banquet for the New England people could be complete without codfish”, and so a codfish was passed around. Afterward, many of the New Englanders shared stories from the Civil War, as most of them had been soldiers in the Union Army. The picnic was considered a complete success by all in attendance. Later, the North Dakotans said good-bye to the New Englanders of Detroit, and then to those from Minnesota, before heading back to their Dakota homes themselves and already planning next year’s picnic.
Written By: Jayme Job
Source:
Fargo Forum and Daily Republican (Evening ed.). June 19, 1903: p 8.