The Portuguese Water Dog Club of Greater Chicagoland extends its thanks to all who attended the 15th annual PWD Picnic held at Casa Lago last Sunday. Our final count, although we may have missed a few, was 268 people and 114 dogs. We had families from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas and Florida.

The weather was delightful....95 degrees with little humidity. The pond was inviting and filled all day with dogs and people. It was great to see so many new faces and, of course, so many new PWDs. It was even better seeing old faces and seeing how the dogs have grown over the past year.

Thanks to all who brought the delicious salads, the decadent desserts, the mouth watering snacks and the pickles!! The club provided the main dishes – we went through 55 pounds of Bratwurst, 35 pounds of hamburgers, 30 pounds of hot dogs and about 20 pounds of chicken breasts.

We appreciate everyone who pitched in to help cook, to help Charlie in the kitchen, and to keep things running smoothly in the yard.

The “Lost and Found Department” has little to report....a pair of child’s swim goggles, many tennis balls, a few really nice red balls, and only two water frisbees. No extra dogs or kids were left.

If you would email us some of your picnic pictures, we’ll get them on the website (www. pwdchicago.com) ASAP. In addition, we’d like as many shots of the “Group” picture as possible.

It’s usually a great Portuguese day. We hope you had fun and met a lot of new friends. We know your dog had a wonderful time. Mark your calendars for next year....the Sunday after Father’s Day.

See you next year.

2005 Picnic Gallery - Click on a photo to enlarge