The highlights of this event were that it was held in the summer month of July, in the beautiful Erindale park, (Mississauga) and had planned sports activities, fun games, lucky draws, give-away gifts and plenty of food for all to partake and enjoy.

In order to enable all members to attend the event, an email was sent out in advance; in addition, an announcement after Thursday bhajans at the Centre were helpful in getting everybody together. Verbal announcements were also given on Saturdays so that the parents of SSE students would be aware of the activities of the Centre. An outdoor event requires detail planning and an awareness of the inconveniences or challenges members need to overcome to attend any event. Keeping all these considerations in mind, car-pooling was planned for those members who did not have access to private transport.

As a result of this meticulous planning, nearly all members along with their family, friends and children attended this event.  The event included games such as cricket, badminton, tug-of-war rope, and water-filled-balloons.

Apart from the joyous moments, all members were able to enjoy fresh and delicious home-cooked food. There were appetizers, snacks before a sumptuous lunch.  Service brothers sliced lots of fruits and kept plying all members with water, juices, snack or fruit to fend off thirst and hunger.

To add more excitement, raffle games with gift items that were previously donated by members were laid out.  This encouraged wholesome participation, laughter and claps from onlookers. Bhajans were not forgotten as children were encouraged to sing while the adults chorused along.The event was filled with healthy interaction and all members came to reinforce their identities and belonging as proud members of the Sai family. Unfortunately, the day had to come to an end. All the members helped to make sure no trace of garbage was left behind and that the park was clean. Suffice to say the day was filled with fun and laughter. At the end of the day all the smiling sunburnt faces were a loving and heartfelt “thank -you” to our Beloved Swami.