Celebrating the United States of Daniel Island

For Jann O’Toole, Marty Sena and their friends and neighbors on Daniel Island, planning for this year’s picnic contest at the annual “Concert in the Park” was a group effort. It all started when Jann, who teaches English as a second language to Russian women, proposed they name Trident Literacy Association, where she volunteers, as the beneficiary should their group win the grand prize of a $500 cash donation to the charity of their choice. From there, the wheels began to turn.

Marty came up with the theme: “The United States of Daniel Island.” An appropriate theme indeed, considering the group of about 16 couples represent 28 different states.

“I didn’t know one of these people six years ago – none of us did.  But this has really come to be a special group of friends,” says Marty. “The one thing that brings us together is Daniel Island.”

Once the idea was hatched, the planning took on a life of its own. A series of “meetings” were held in the weeks leading up to the event, and everyone chipped in. There were banners to be made (each participant wore a sash with the name of their home state printed on it), an interactive map to be assembled (with a ribbon pinned to the city and state where each person was from), decorations to buy, and more.

Each couple was required to bring a dish representing their home state. A table decorated in red, white and blue displayed an all-American feast featuring an eclectic mix of treats from around the country. Fried chicken from South Carolina and muffaletta sandwiches from New Orleans shared the table with guacamole, peach cobbler, popcorn (from Indiana, of course!) and more. A state flag was placed on each of the dishes.

The group proudly displayed their map and invited those walking by to become part of the “United States of Daniel Island” by placing a sticker on their hometown.

“Everyone really enjoyed seeing a visual representation of where their friends and neighbors came from,” said Madeline Cerrudo, who took the lead on organizing the interactive map. “It was a great conversation starter.”

Truly a creative bunch, the group held a “Best Hat” contest amongst themselves, with each friend wearing a hat decorated in a theme that represented their home town.

“Trident Literacy has an amazing capacity for changing people’s lives,” said Jann O’Toole, who previously served on the board and has been volunteering for the organization for almost eight years. “We had so much fun putting this event together in hopes of providing some financial assistance to this wonderful non-profit organization.”

Congratulations to this dedicated group on their hard work on behalf of Trident Literacy Association!