The Manticore Society: Report on the Hanami Cogs & Petals Picnic

On March 13th members of the Manticore Society reported to the Hanami Cogs and Petals picnic at Lake Balboa. The good Captain made very good use of his new photographic reporting equipment. The day started off with a lovely gathering of steampunks from near and far to gather at the beautiful and sprawling Lake Balboa in Van Nyes, California. The Cogs and Petals Picnic was headed by the beloved members of the society Ms. Sheyne and Mr. Glenn. So many people were at this event, one of the camera men who took our group photo was a bit overwhelmed to say the least! We were pleased to see so many of the Manticore Society and the League of S.T.E.A.M. in attendance as well as delighted to meet so many new faces! There was something for everyone in the park; catching up with lost contacts, a few games to play, blankets to lounge upon, plentiful food to snack on, a dog in a pirate hat, bountiful scenery to take in, and people watching! Captain Wong Wei took many wonderful pictures of the people and the view we were surrounded by as we all chatted about with many of the men and women, enjoying the many different animals in and out of the water and, of course, admiring the few cherry blossoms that did bloom at the time. There were not that many that bloomed at the time because of the very cold season but the few that did were beautiful!

There was also a cosplay photoshoot near our event and it was fun seeing all the different outfits worn by both the steampunk and cosplay groups. As it neared the night it was quite chilly so the picnic was wrapped up as soon as the sun started to go down but there was a lot of talk about events yet to come. If there’s anything common about any steampunk event it's that we do NOT stop talking about present or future projects, places to buy interesting materials, and events to come! We did not all go right away, we lingered along with a group that included our gracious hosts, very grateful that they put this all together for everyone!