By Richard Widrig (b. 8/27/1952)
In early July 1997, Paul Widrig approached me about organizing a Widrig Family Picnic on August 23, 1997. As the picnic would be held here in the Los Angeles area, we expected only local Widrig's to attend. I told him that I would love to help him plan it. About a week later, he informed me that the 23rd didn't work for one of his family members, so we agreed on August 2.
Paul and I had never met, but we had talked in email and over the phone several times. He had not provided me with information to tie him and his family to the tree. Since retiring from his position at the City of Los Angeles, Paul worked part time for the Burpee Seed Company servicing major hardware stores and nurserys. He was going to be in the area and suggested we meet. We agreed to meet, at the Barnes and Noble at Wilshire and 3rd Street in Santa Monica, to scout out parks for the picnic. I asked Paul how I would recognize him at the bookstore. He said, "Look for the old guy." I walked into the store and recognized him right away.
We saw four parks and the last park we looked at was perfect. It was Clover Park at 26th and Ocean Park in Santa Monica. Paul said he would mail out the reservations and I told him I would email those on my Widrig email list and call people in the valley. Paul's son David put together a wonderful flyer and it was mailed to all the Widrig's we knew in Southern California. I also invited them to a cocktail party at my house.
My parents, looking for an excuse to take a vacation after months of caring for my grandmother Grace, planned a trip from Washington State to come to the Widrig event. They arrived on Thursday, July 31 in time to fix a flat tire on their car and go to a salsa concert on the pier in Santa Monica. (More about my parent's stay at my place.)
The next day was cocktail party day. Apparently few Widrig's are partiers, as only Paul and his wife had RSVPed that they were coming and they backed out on the Monday before the event. Then Paul's sister-in-law Eros and her son Mark RSVPed and backed out the day of the event. Fearing disaster, I already had invited several of my friends over and changed it to a sit down dinner. We had a great time.
We got up early the next day- August 2. I had prepared teriyaki chicken which we were going to eat cold. For potluck, we mixed together the ingredients for nichoise salad. Stopping by Thrifty Drugs on our way to the park, I got name cards. We arrived at about 10:15 am. Paul and his son Doug had been there since 5:30 am! Paul said, "Thank goodness we got her early and got four tables and two grills. About a half hour later, the group next to us got here and were disappointed that they couldn't reserve the whole area for their group!" Thank you Paul and Doug. We got out a thermos of Starbuck's coffee and I corralled Paul to find out where his family fit on the tree. Unfortunately, my descendants of Michael Widrig printout on which we wrote out Paul's tree ended up with Sally Widrig Abbott and I don't have it in front of me, but I believe I remember where Paul's family fits in. (I'll fill in several names in this story later, as Sally has promised to send it to me.) Paul is the son of Clyde Raymond Widrig (1886-1965).
Soon we were joined by a lost Bill Widrig, Paul's wife Carolyn, son David, daughter Donna Widrig Tompson and her son Jason, daughter Diane Widrig Gomes, husband Alan, and sons Colin and Trevor, and Dean Widrig and his wife Lou. About noon, while Bill was taking pictures of each family group to post on the Widrig Family Tree family picture area, Madelle "Sally" Widrig Abbott, Spencer Abbott and their grown children Ray and Kathie arrived. Sally was in high school with my parents, but they were not close. It seems that many Seattle Widrig's didn't socialize with my grandparent's family because they did not like his wife, Margaret Grant.
I previously had met few of the people that were at the picnic, so it was a lot of fun to talk to all these Widrigs. Everyone sat down with other Widrig's and exchanged stories. We had a great time. It was a record hot day for Los Angeles, but we were in the shade and not too far from the ocean so we were quite comfortable. Perhaps the hot weather scared some families away.
David Widrig had grabbed the picture of Philo Widrig and his family from my web page, inserted his face for Philo and a teddy bear under Philo's wife's arm. He has promised to send me his gif file so I can put it on the site for you to see.
Paul brought several family heirlooms. I brought our family bible, several pictures, letters I have received, and we ate using my great-grandmother's (Elizabeth Kaufman's) utensils. Sally brought many beautiful pictures of her family and my grandfather's family. I sat with Sally and she explained many of the pictures.
Sally also told me the story about how her brother James Murrin Widrig was nicknamed Tito. Her mother Madelle and her father's sister Pearl, shortly after Madelle had given birth to her first born Carol, went to a play at the Moore Theatre. The star was a handsome man named Leo Carillo who played the male lead and his character was named Tito. Pearl turned to Madelle and said "That would be a good nickname for Carol's brother." Madelle wasn't pregnant at the time, but remembered the comment after James Murrin Widrig was born. Apparently, Sally's parents gave nicknames to all their kids except their first born, Carol.
The kids played basketball, until some bigger kids, who wanted to play full court, kicked them off the court. Doug and David discussed "kicking their butts", but decided against causing a riot at the Widrig Family Picnic:) They also played frisbee.
We had lunch about 1:00 pm. Someone stole one of our grills, so sharing a grill took some time for several families to cook. Upon beginning to prepare our salad, I found out that we had forgot to bring the salad bowl so I went to the store and bought another one. We shared many salads and some great brownies.
Paul's wife Carolyn had brought a pea salad, which was so good that my mom Shirley asked her for a copy of it. Carolyn is going to email it to me. Maybe we'll put a feature on the site- Widrig Family Recipes. What do you think? Additionally, Sally's daughter Jill Abbott Serna was looking forward to presenting me with a cook book she had put together. Unfortunately she was unable to come to the picnic as her husband's back acted up and her kids got sick. But if she also sends me the cookbook on disk, we would have a great start to a recipe section. Me, I can cook as long as I follow directions in a cookbook.
Paul brought out several prizes and asked questions. Dean Widrig, my father Dick, Ray Widrig and I won prizes. Mine was a ringer, as I won for putting up a Widrig Web Page. Hey, I love to put together puzzles and I got a great sunflower puzzle as a prize, so I am not complaining.
We were there until about 4:00 pm. Six hours flew by. We left with new friends and knowing that we Widrig's are not alone. Thanks Paul for everything. You put together a great picnic.
Persons mentioned in this story
Story written August 3, 1997