It was an old-fashioned, All-American company picnic: a chance to unwind from the job, see fellow workers in a social setting, exchange gossip, let the kids romp, play games, win prizes and eat all you want at the boss’ expense.
Once a staple on every company’s calendar, the annual picnic seems almost an anachronism today when corner-cutting businesses are more into survival than employee appreciation.
But on a recent sun-kissed afternoon in a Cook County Forest Preserve, about 600 Checker cab drivers — almost all of whom are foreign-born — gathered with their families to carry on the picnic tradition and celebrate another year on the job.
“It’s my way of saying thanks and to build a little loyalty,” said John Moberg, president of the Checker Taxi Association, Inc. “These are guys who spend 12 hours a day at work, and that means 12 hours away from their families, usually at times they’d like to be home. There can’t be a better kind of event than one they can share with their families.”
Why you couldn’t get a taxi that day
Once entering LaBagh Woods off Cicero Avenue on Chicago’s Northwest Side, it was easy for picnickers to find their way to Grove No. 1. Checkered flags lined the road and led them directly into the parking lot, where a few stray Yellow cabs could be found in the mix. “Hey, the word gets out and we’re not turning anyone down,” Moberg said. “They show their medallion and they’re in.”
Everyone gets a gift when they register, but everyone also gets a raffle ticket to win something from a rental truck full of prizes. Among this year’s high-end items were a 36-inch, high-definition TV for adults and Playstations and Xboxes for the youth.
“One year, everyone got an umbrella as a door prize,” recalled Checker official Jane Ann Dendler. “It was perfect because it was the only year I can remember we got rain.”
The scene
“This thing is like a small United Nations,” said Emanuel Isho, attending his ninth Checker picnic. “You’ve got Pakistanis and Indians together. You’ve got Jews and Muslims and African-Americans and Arabs and Russians and Serbs and Croats. None of us would be doing this in our homelands. Here we can all come together and leave that behind. It’s unique.”
In one shaded area, blankets are spread out for Muslims to use for prayer, while, not a hundred feet away, a group of kids are playing catch with a baseball.
“This is why we’re here, really,” said Isho, acknowledging the mix around him. “Wouldn’t it be nice if it was like this everywhere in the world? Here we are interested in our families and want them to make good lives for themselves. It’s no different for anyone else, I’m sure.”
Active in the Assyrian-American Association, Isho came to the U.S. from Iraq in 1973, when he fled Saddam Hussein’s takeover of that country. “I am Christian, so that was not a good place for me because of persecution,” he said. “I had relatives here and settled [in Chicago] in 1976. All of my family is out of Iraq now.
“I am happy that the United States is there and hopefully everything will be OK. I have not returned since I first left, but I would like to go back one more time before I die.”
Striking out
This was the ninth annual picnic for the drivers, but Checker has scheduled other group outings. “The first big event I tried to do was a `Day At The Ballpark,'” Moberg recalled. “We went to a White Sox game, but it was hard to get everyone motivated. A lot of drivers and their families don’t understand baseball. They didn’t know what they were watching. I also caught a little grief from Cub fans [that] we didn’t go to Wrigley Field.”
Fashion notes
Brightly colored scarves and saris, turbans, burqas and sandals were equal in number to baseball caps, jeans, shorts, Polo shirts and sneakers. The most conspicuous garb on this hot day was worn by women dressed in burqas. Only their eyes were visible.
“God love ’em,” said Dee Miller, as they walked by her. “I couldn’t do that on a day like this.”
Miller went on to explain that she, a member of the Greek Orthodox church, has a similar garment in her closet. As a Checker association official, she attends Muslim functions and, out of respect, wears it on those occasions as well as on the company’s float in the annual Pakistani Independence Day parade in Rogers Park.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” she said. “It gives me a whole lot of appreciation for the women who have to wear those clothes all the time.”
Numbers, letters, winners
With as many as 75 drivers and family members seated under tents at one end of the grounds and intently working their cards, bingo was unquestionably the day’s most popular activity for adults.
So many were playing at one point — only one card per player was allowed — that participants had to use coins and other objects to mark numbers. “And please,” admonished caller Al Kupferman, “no cell phones while we’re playing. They disturb the players and keep them from concentrating on what we’re doing!”
Kupferman later explained the game seems to cross all ethnic lines. “It’s easy to learn and very simple to play, but there’s also a certain competitiveness about bingo that everyone seems to enjoy,” he said. “You can kind of feel the tension mount after I’ve called a lot of numbers and nobody’s won.”
A table loaded with nice prizes has to help the appeal. At one point, three people — Ernest Stephens, Gani Sodagar, Anna Manzanarez — tied for a new, automatic coffeemaker. “Every year I win something,” said a beaming Stephens. “This isn’t as good as the TV or the DVD player I won, but I can use it.”
The write stuff
Nine-year-old Eric Perez, wearing a Brian Urlacher jersey, couldn’t have been more excited if he were waiting to get an autograph from the Bears star. In this case, he was jumping up and down in a long line of kids waiting for a ride on one of the ponies shipped in from Patch 22 farms in suburban Wadsworth. “This is my favorite thing at the picnic,” Eric said.
He wasn’t alone. The ponies were among the most popular activities for younger kids. Eric, in a group of equally excited neighbors and pals that included Claudia Quintanilla, 9, Patricia Salinas, 10, Erika Perez, 8, and Mia Benavives, 7, got back in line for more rides.
“For some of them, this is the first picnic and I know they were looking forward to it because everyone hears it’s a good time,” said Adriana Salinas, 14, who was ushering the knot of friends around the grounds. “Me? This is my third time. I always enjoy it because there are so many things to do.”
As much as she likes the Checker event, Adriana indicated she’s probably more excited about entering her freshman year this fall at Cristo Rey High School in Pilsen. “I like to write,” she said. Then, after a pause, added: “Maybe I can write a theme about the picnic.”
Moonlighting
There’s more than a little networking taking place at the picnic. Many drivers have side jobs, like selling insurance or home repair contracting, and a visitor can easily walk away with a pocket full of business cards.
“Driving a cab is a good job because you meet so many people,” said Aamir Khan. “But the problem is that you work so many hours. It can also be very dangerous. It is just you and a stranger in your car. There are more bad things happening to us than you read about in the paper. We really need a union to solve some of our problems.”
Khan earned a business degree at UCLA before moving to Chicago, where he started work on an MBA. “Then I got married, the bills started coming, the tuition got expensive, and I dropped out,” he said. “This [driving] turned out to be the best thing for me, but I loved going to school. Someday I’d like to return.”
Putty in her hands
Big, burly Les Miller ran the kids’ beanbag toss, where everyone was a winner. A nervous Hajar Souari, 3, had to be encouraged by her mother to play, but, after successfully tossing a bag into the target with help from Les, she knew exactly what to do after winning. When Miller bent over to hand her a ticket to claim a prize, she quickly grabbed him around the neck, pulled him lower and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I’m just a teddy bear,” he said, beaming after the smooch.
Three amigos
Were Suhail Khan, 17, Iftikhar Khan, 18, and Ali Ahmed, 14, just three wild and crazy guys looking for a good time? Or were they dragged reluctantly to the event by parents? A little bit of both, actually.
“The first time I came a couple of years ago, I was told by my folks I was coming whether I wanted to go or not,’ Iftikhar said.
“I’m glad I did. I ran into a whole lot of friends from high school [Fenton] I hadn’t seen all summer. It was a good time. There are always plenty of others our age.”
All three agreed it also was not a bad opportunity to meet girls, but, just in case things got slow, the three buddies brought their own football to toss around.
“Most of the games seem like they’re for the younger kids,” said Suhail, who was attending his first company picnic. “We’re a little big for pony rides. Maybe we’ll try volleyball.”
The menu: 700 hamburgers to start
Meeting everyone’s dietary requirements is no easy matter.
“I tried to make everyone happy the first few years,” said Dee Miller, who coordinates the event, and that includes the menu. “Forget that, honey. The Pakistanis were bringing their own food, so I just started going with what you expect at a picnic — chicken, potato salad, that sort of stuff. Some people still bring their own, but it seems to work.”
The only company-provided salutes to ethnic tastes this year were a spicy rice dish called bryani and “Chicken Thundari,” both prepared by a Pakistani restaurant. Many families who made their own specialties brought enough to share.
Otherwise, the food tables carried traditional picnic fare that Schaul’s Catering supervisor Jorge Pulido — a three-year veteran of the Checker cab event — planned for 600 people:
– 700 hamburgers
– 600 hot dogs (kosher and non-kosher)
– 500 pieces of chicken
– 400 ears of corn
– 150 pounds of potato salad
– 64 pounds of baked beans
– 150 pounds of fruit salad
– 580 green olives
– 580 black olives
– 434 celery sticks
– 434 carrot sticks
– 550 gallons of drinking water, along with an unlimited supply of soft drinks.
“That’s more fruit salad than you’d expect for this number, but that’s because we got more than the usual amount of non-meat eaters,” Pulido said. Any other special considerations? “Yeah, no bacon in the beans.”
Snow cones were available for dessert and, long after interest in the other food ended, everyone kept returning to the ice machine for the syrup-covered treat. The ice cream truck that made a midafternoon pass through the jammed parking lot never had a chance. A puzzled driver waited and waited, got absolutely no response, and left to find customers elsewhere.
— Mike Conklin
