The Annual Great Halliburton Summer Picnic

Based on last year’s extravaganza, I had a great feeling that this year’s company picnic would be another success. I was right.

Although not as big as last year’s eleven-to-seven Sun-Fest, this year’s lineup included a large buffet-style lunch with steak as the main course. (Kim didn’t want hers, so I ended up with two steaks – shoulda gotten one for Nick too) After that, it was a somewhat-less-than-brisk walk down 1920’s ave (I’d just loaded up on food – brisk was somewhat beyond me) and back in time for the entertainment.

Professional entertainers are a dangerous gamble. If you get someone who has become a professional comedian based on the fact that “Everyone thinks I’m funny – just ask mom”, you’re in for a long afternoon. Fortunately, the garbanzo brothers, or whatever they called themselves, did a pretty good job. Somehow, they randomly picked my boss for the ultra-embarrassing table-act. Very funny. And they juggled, which can save any quasi-horrible act.

The fact that this was the second year at Fort Edmonton didn’t ruin the experience, since it’s a big place and the focus of this year’s picnic was actually at the picnic area, rather than sight-seeing. Or maybe that was the focus for me since I’d been there before. Given the rapid turnover at Halliburton, I’m sure there were a log of wide-eyed touristy-types, gaping at the old-timey costumes and the locomotive.

In the end, they forwent a door-prize and gave all Halliburton employees a picnic set which included dishes, a cooler and wheels. All hail Halliburton, empire of fun!