One of our traditions at JDJ is to have a company outing each summer (something we’ve been doing faithfully since 2004). Usually the event centers around a theme, with the company broken up into teams that compete for points in the weeks leading up to the festive day.  Each year, an appointed internal Party Planning Team (PPT) goes to great lengths to devise something that is both creative and fun, and this year’s PPT did not disappoint!

Since the kick-off event in late June, when the “Dashing Through the Decades” theme and its six teams were revealed, there was intense competition to earn points. Each team was given a decade from the 20^th century, which it represented with food, costumes, and games in the weeks leading up to the big day.  The teams also had to choose a short scene from a movie that was set in its decade and prepare to re-enact the scene “live” at the outing.

In keeping with tradition, many of the particulars of the day (including the actual location) remained a secret until the morning of the event. As it turned out, we began the day playing tourists in our own city on a Boston Duck Tour, and then the competition heated up (literally – it was a warm day!) with a scavenger hunt involving several clues that led us from the Museum of Science (where our Duck Tour began and ended) to our final destination – The Lawn on D. There we had a delicious lunch, played lawn games, enjoyed each other’s company, and – of course – acted out our scenes! Though the 1970s team was the official winner (having done a very creative and hilarious re-enactment of a crucial part of the movie “Jaws”), we all came out ahead and had a blast. We’re already looking forward to next year!