Chamber of commerce hosts picnic in the park

Noe Garcia, The Hanford Sentinel, Calif.
·3 min read

Mar. 2—HANFORD — Families gathered on Saturday morning for the Hanford Chamber of Commerce's Picture Day/Picnic in the Park for their upcoming mobile app.

Amory Marple, CEO and executive director of the Hanford Chamber of Commerce, said she noticed more people were coming out to Civic Park and after bouncing around ideas with parks and recreation and Main Street Hanford, she decided to invite people to come to the park.

"This year, we didn't have any events to take pictures at and we need them to use for our print material," Marple said. "I didn't want to use pictures from the years before because it's just not a true representation of current times."

Approximately 10 families came out on the sunny morning, many with pizza slices in hand as Fatte Alberts had their pizza trolley present for the event. Some had their own chairs and others were sitting on blankets provided by the chamber, which were donated by Thomas Curtiss from Keller Williams Realty. The blankets were spaced apart to keep families socially distant and they were able to keep them after the photo.

"What the chamber has been trying to do is get out information because people also don't know what we're allowed to do," Marple said. "There are outside activities that are possible where you can still distance yourself and be COVID safe."

Throughout the morning, Marple was interacting with visitors who decided to take part in the photo after realizing what was taking place.

"I got to talk to people and they were surprised that this was going on," Marple said. "It was nice to let outsiders know too that yes this is possible for your own town, that things are starting to open up that way they can even go and look what's out there for themselves."

If the COVID-19 pandemic is gone by next year, Marple is hoping the picnic can become an annual event to celebrate the end of the winter season and coming of spring, which leads to more events taking place again.

REMSCAPE, a local cinematic filmmaking and photography business, was on hand to capture the moment via a drone. Families were also given blue hearts to hold up for the photo.

Marple said the mobile app will be coming out as soon as the end of this week. The main icons on the app are going to be the community calendar, a guide for visitors, employment resources and other usual items the chamber is responsible for. It will also include a list of important items new residents need to know, such as contacts for the city, the police department, fire department and more.

"I didn't want it to be a business app, I wanted it to be a community app," Marple said.

The ultimate goal is to be a source for events that are taking place in the city. Over the course of the next few months, Marple said she's going to encourage residents to download the app, sign up for the newsletter and follow the chamber online.

"We know that not everybody does have a Facebook or Instagram and this is the easier way to go than having a website, keeping it at your fingertips," Marple said.