Keeping Safe at Late-Season Picnics in a Pandemic

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Picnics offer the solace of nature and more allure than eating and drinking in stuffy confined spaces. As we settle into autumn, picnicking can be the ticket to enjoy fall colors and bounty, when many other excursions remain curtailed during the pandemic.

Milwaukee County Supervisor Felesia Martin, who represents a northwest Milwaukee district and serves on the County Board’s Parks, Energy & Environment Committee, recently spoke with WUWM about “wanting to provide more healthy options for people. We know that green spaces can contribute to good, healthy outcomes, as families and communities take part in exercising in the park ... Just being among trees … helps decrease your stress level,” Martin said.

To make the most of picnics in public spaces during this challenging time, here are tips.

Practice safety first, second and always. As with all public activities—especially as COVID cases spike in Wisconsin, picnicking requires physical distancing, including staying at least 6 feet (about two arms’ lengths) from people outside your household. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises: “Remember: until a vaccine is developed, every face-to-face interaction you have means you could be spreading COVID-19.” Frequent hand washing or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and wearing face coverings, will help protect you and others. Sanitizing wipes are handy for cleaning picnic tables before and after use.  A tablecloth enhances both safety and ambience. Bring a bag for trash and perhaps pick up litter along the way as a gesture of collective caring.

Consider close-to-home locations. That can make picnicking easier, especially on a whim. A picnic can offer flexibility in terms of combining children’s play, adult relaxation and perhaps a board game or homework. Since restrooms are closed in many parks, or lack portable toilets, managing restroom needs may be easier closer to home. Nonetheless, when a suitable public green space is unavailable nearby, driving to a park—if only across town--may be necessary to enjoy picnics and other recreation.

Limit your party—and plan for distancing. When organizing an outing with people outside your household, plan for safe distancing. Perhaps seek multiple picnic tables spaced at least six feet apart for respective households. Toting portable chairs and tables can also facilitate safety. Of course, that requires extra effort, and greater expense unless you already have them. The CDC also advises avoiding crowded parks: “Do not visit parks where you cannot stay at least 6 feet away from people you don’t live with.”

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Scope out potential locations in advance. This can be crucial if you hope to picnic in a park outside your neighborhood. Before COVID, Milwaukee County Parks offered picnic areas in many of the 150 parks it stewards. Although some parks currently have plentiful tables available, or at least a few, some parks have none. The presence of picnic tables is “rather inconsistent,” said Jim Goulee, president of Preserve Our Parks. He has been urging parks director Guy Smith to release more boarded-up picnic tables. “People are itching to get outside for a picnic, not just to walk or bike. In fact, many are just looking for a place to sit down and enjoy nature.”

See below for a random sampling of parks with or without tables, based on observation from Sept. 20-27.

Throw a blanket on a patch of grass—if you are able. Literally, that option is one solely for the able-bodied. As people age, sitting on the ground often becomes less comfortable. When inviting others, ask ahead whether blanket picnicking would work for them. Also, as weather cools, some people might need multiple ground coverings for a pleasant picnic.

Some playgrounds, ball fields and tennis courts have picnic tables nearby--a boon for cheering squads and caretakers. Although some farmers markets are prohibiting picnics as a safety precaution, especially in constricted locations, others accommodate picnics. The Shorewood Farmers Market, Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October 24, is held along a closed-off section of the Estabrook Parkway. Many scattered picnic tables are located on grassy areas opposite vendors. The parkway functions as a pedestrian promenade—safely promoting community. It’s a popular location of the “Milwaukee Active Streets” pilot project, “a partnership between Milwaukee County Parks and the City of Milwaukee to open up outdoor space” for walking, running, biking, rollerblading or skateboarding.

A just-opened pocket park on West 38th and Vliet streets in Milwaukee boasts two produce stands, open Wednesday through Sunday, 3 to 6 p.m., and four bright-yellow picnic tables. Tables are used by market patrons, and customers of Triciclo and Pete’s Pops, two adjacent businesses.

Experience community in a garden. Some community gardens primarily serve members or specific neighborhoods, and often include at least one picnic table. Alice’s Garden at 2136 North 21st Street in Milwaukee serves Greater Milwaukee and beyond. Plentiful picnic tables throughout the expansive garden include four within a covered pavilion. Masks are mandatory except while eating. Weekly events include popular markets Tuesday and Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. Vendors offer wide-ranging products, including healthy food. Visitors participate in free classes in yoga, cooking, gardening and herbal lore, and enjoy live music. Martha Davis Kipcak, founder of the Milwaukee Food Council, considers Alice’s Garden “a sacred space, the holiest ground I know in Milwaukee. If we are ever to heal as a people, as a community, as a city, we need more places like Alice’s Garden to take us there.” Alice’s Garden is a nonprofit ministry called The Table; executive director Venice Williams calls herself “a cultural and spiritual midwife.” Williams said recently that new infrastructure is being built, including a low-walled fire pit built by Frank Dunlap, “so that we can keep gathering here as long as possible” as winter looms.

Verify policies before heading to a beer garden. Permanent beer gardens within Milwaukee County Parks have different policies regarding food and who is welcome. (In any case, Milwaukee County law forbids drinking alcoholic beverages in parks, except when buying them from a licensed vendor or by purchasing a picnic permit.)

Beer gardens in Shorewood’s Estabrook Park and Greendale’s Whitnall Park, which serve food, invite visitors to tote their own food and non-alcoholic beverages. However, the one in South Shore Park, has posted stern warnings on each of 30 standard park picnic tables outside the beer garden courtyard: “Tables are for Shore Shore Terrace guests only during business hours, [up to 12 hours on weekends and six on weekdays]…As a reminder we do not allow outside food or beverage to be consumed in our beer garden or lakefront lawn tables.” No other picnic tables are available anywhere else in the popular park.

Milwaukee County has rental options through October 15th at the following parks: Brown Deer, Grant, Greenfield, Lincoln and Washington. Fees start at $90 for up to 50 people and $180 up to 100. Ones with picnic shelters cost an additional $111 to $143. Reserve at 414-257-8005.

Picnic with neighbors. People are creatively using front lawns, driveways, garages, porches or the sidewalk to create space for safe visiting, including impromptu neighborhood parties. Attendees often bring their own everything, or set up with discrete portions. “Porch concerts” with live music are adaptive pop-up variations of COVID-era picnicking within the public realm.

Enjoy a quiet outing in a cemetery. This American tradition predates most American parks. America’s naturalistic “rural cemetery movement” began in the early 19th cemetery in New England following debilitating epidemics. Honoring deceased loved ones while sharing an outdoor meal became a popular Sunday outing, including in Milwaukee. Debra Brehmer, owner of the Portrait Society Gallery, recently hosted a small lawn feast in historic Forest Home Cemetery and posted an image on Facebook.

Sara Tomlin, Forest Home’s new executive director, told WUWM’s “Lake Effect” program: “We really want to encourage people to come to the cemetery and explore it like people did back in the day before there were other parks. I know that has been a great relief for me during the pandemic, to go out and be in nature...So if you want a place that you can come that's quiet, that has reflection, it might be a de-stresser for you.”

A Random Sampling of Picnic Tables in Parks

Here’s a snapshot of what was available from September 20th to 27th in parks managed by Milwaukee County Parks, City of Milwaukee and MKE Rec. Some have tables, others do not. Milwaukee County’s “Find A Park” web page offers maps and information about amenities; keep in mind that flux remains the norm during COVID.

: Back Bay Park, Center Street Park, Cooper Park, Enderis Park (MKE Rec), Hart Park (City of Wauwatosa), Jackson Park, Johnsons Park, Kern Park, Lafayette Hill Park (next to tennis courts), Morgan Triangle, Peoples Park (City of Milwaukee park in Riverwest), Riverside Park, Sheridan Park, Warnimont Dog Park.

Parks with at least six picnic tables available (some have many tables): Bradford Beach, Brown Deer Park, Catalano Square (City of Milwaukee park), Cathedral Square, Clas Plaza (next to Milwaukee County Courthouse), Doctors Park, Estabrook Park, Grant Park, Juneau Park, Kletzsch Park, Lake Park (widely scattered), McKinley Marina, McGovern Park, Pere Marquette Park, Washington Park (within several areas), Veterans Park (widely scattered).

Parks with no picnic tables currently available for general use: Baran Park, Big Bay Park, Indigenous Peoples Park, Humboldt Park, Koscziusko Park, Mitchell Park, Moody Park, South Shore Park (all tables are strictly restricted for beer-garden patrons during its open hours), Roverwest Dog Park, Zeidler Union Square, Wahl Park.

Autumn is a season of dramatic change, from foliage colors to weather swings. In this time of heightened unpredictability, time outdoors for an alfresco gathering could be especially rewarding as we steel ourselves for a COVID winter mostly hunkered within our respective homes.

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