When the Jewish community of St. Catharines began to grow exponentially after World War II, the returning service men, their families, their elders, and their friends that followed them to St. Catharines were increasingly involved with the wider community beyond them. While there was still anti-Semitism, the walls were coming down quickly in some ways. As there was more interaction with their non-Jewish neighbours and some of the traditions in their various communities began to rub off on the Jewish community.
It goes without saying that picnics were not something the Jewish community as a whole was used to. No doubt, there were picnics among families and friends, but a whole community picnic was not something natural to the Jews but it was a big thing in the Niagara Peninsula for sure. Every church group had a picnic in the summer time, and the local parks were equipped with pavilions and playgrounds and picnic tables as well as little hibachi type grill contraptions for people to cook on. Naturally, it wasn’t long before all the Jewish families in St. Catharines began meeting for a picnic out on a Sunday. In the old days, these events were sponsored by B’nai Brith and there would be races for everyone, ribbons for everyone and games of all kinds for every age..
Congregation B’nai Israel held their picnics first off at the park in Queenston Heights. Over the years other sites became popular, especially the one pictured in the photos below. Oner the years, this park became rather specialized with an area to the side for mountain climbing but also with hiking trails leading right down to the base of the Niagara River, in what gave the name to the park – the Niagara Gorge.
