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	Vol.7, No 21, October 5, 1999
	Picnic celebrates 50 years of CSULB history By Jackie Quintanilla Special to the Daily Forty-Niner More than 400 students, alumni and faculty spent Saturday afternoon at the Family Picnic held in front of the Alumni Association entrance to The Pyramid. The picnic was held to celebrate Cal State Long Beachís 50th anniversary. Participants enjoyed an old-fashioned family picnic, live entertainment, games and a ticket to the eveningís womenís volleyball match.  "This year they [the Alumni Association picnic committee] wanted a family picnic for everyone to enjoy," said Marcelino Saucedo, a retired board member of the Alumni Association, active member of the Latino Alumni Association and chairwoman of this yearís Alumni Association picnic committee. "I think the Family Picnic theme was a good idea for family involvement and to get the families out here spending time with the kids, enjoying the food, games and entertainment," said Aremi Lopez, political science major and member of La Raza student organization.  The idea was to have the picnic back-to-back with the womenís volleyball match against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and at the same time put it in line with the 50th Anniversary, Saucedo said.  The picnic featured a live band, games, a raffle and speeches by CSULB President Robert Maxson and Roberta Smith, president of the CSULB Alumni Association.  "Each year we try to do something different for the fall event," Smith said. "Last year it happened to be a luau and [for] this one we wanted a family picnic, since we're trying to steer our events around the 50th anniversary." Volunteers for the event were recruited by sending letters to people on the alumni volunteer list and by making phone calls to alumni. Yolanda Venavides, board member of the Alumni Association and past president of the Latino Alumni Association, and Kathy Rabago, board member of the Political Science Alumni Association, were two of many volunteers who contributed to the success of the picnic.  Both were volunteers for the children's section, which consisted of face painting, craft making, and the making of "cascarones," eggs filled with confetti.  "The idea of cascarones came from Mexico, where in the villages the boys are too bashful to tell the girls that they love them," Venavides said. "They will either make a cascaron or buy them in the square of the Socolos, a park in the middle of a little town. The boys would walk around the Socolos and when [the boy] saw a girl that [he] liked...he would crack it on the girl's head letting her know that he liked her."  Other games included a relay race, egg toss, snowboarding, and a raffle where the prizes were athletic memorabilia.  "It's a nice thing to do, to be out here and support the team," said alumna Lydia Llerena.		Jason Steinberg/ Daily Forty-Niner Future CSULB volleyball hopeful April Varner from Utah enjoys a cotton candy break ath the 50th Anniversary Alumni Picnic on Saturday outside The Pyramid. Varner recently agreed to sign a letter of intent to join the 49ers as a freshman player in fall 2000 and used the picnic as an opportunity to show the campus off to her parents and catch the game against San Luis Obispo.                                                                                   LBSU returns to first Picnic celebrates 50 years of CSULB history Education funding first, report says Crime Log Three women killed on Long Beach freeway Toy story Raise CSULB standard Gun makers not responsible for crime 'I want Snoop on campus' Reznor returns to familiar territory with new album UCSB snaps losing streak 49ers split again Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.