%%%%%%%%%%% GRAND SUCCESS OF THE FIRST IANC PICNIC %%%%%%%%%%%% Dear Members of the Indian Community, WE APPRECIATE THE PARTICIPATION BY A LARGE NUMBER OF INDIANS IN OUR FIRST PICNIC. We heard people asking "we should do this more often"! THERE WERE ABOUT 70 OF US, and this was probably the largest crowd at an Indian picnic in Ft. Collins that I can recall over 18 years. THAT GREAT MASALA CHAI WITH A BIG SAMOSA FIRST THING IN THE MORNING! Please thank Vibhuti Gheewala, Anuradha & Rohit Bhatia & Preety Sathe for that! LOTS OF C-ooooo-L ICE-WATER was made available by Kushangi and Ashesh Parekh. What could we do without it? They brought big containers from the McDonnell's! Thank you Parekh's for all the efforts! SURPRISINGLY, WE SOLD OVER 55 LUNCHES AT THE PICNIC!!!! Thanks to Star of India! We assume at this time that it was a successful experiments. The food was delicious and plenty for just $5 including Bhatura, pulav and two Vegetables. We could not even touch the sweets after that! Others had brought their own food and that was very nice of them. WE ALSO HAD lots of FUN & GAMES, including sack races, Volley-ball (thanks to Nilesh), etc., and prizes for the winners (thanks to Preety and Lena). AND THEN THERE WERE HIKING TRAILS! but not many could climb the hills after a heavy lunch. Next time we should do it before lunch! Most of all, WE HAD A LOT OF NEW FACES AND NAMES! and we talked a lot! like always!!! And guess what? WE MADE ABOUT $80 BY SELLING CHAI and SOFT DRINKS! (Don't ask how much we spent to bring it to you!!!) We decided that we will reignite OUR MONTHLY BHAJANS, tentatively AT 3 PM EVERY THIRD SATURDAY, at the University Village center! That has been arranged and Vibhuti Gheewala has accepted the responsibility (thanks to Vibhuti). We also missed a few familiar faces though. If these old friends keep missing these events, the ever expanding new community will not know them! Please don't miss-out on the Diwali Dinner that is arranged by Kushangi. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for the Diwali Dinner Show! -- talent show, dance, music, anything goes for the show-off!!!! Plus some muscle for assistance! Contact Lena (223-0665) Lena Sunthankar Cultural Secretary.