Chrysalis Annual Staff Picnic at Lifeguard Tower 20

Chrysalis, a Southern California nonprofit that helps people find work, held its annual staff picnic with us in July 2023. It was one of our biggest beach events that summer. Staff came from several locations, so we set up at Lifeguard Tower 20, about a nine-minute walk from the Santa Monica Pier, which made it easy to extend the day to the pier afterward.

The priority was socializing, not a formal sit-down. We laid out seating for 100 across small low tables scattered on the sand instead of one long row, and added 20 low beach chairs and 20 higher chairs for comfort. Three canopies shaded seven buffet tables for lunch from Mendocino Farms, which our crew collected from the drop-off point at the bottom of Bay Street. It was a dry event, with coolers of still and sparkling water and soda.

The games covered the sand: five cornhole sets, four ladder-toss sets, four Spikeball sets, two bocce sets and a kids' volleyball set. A DJ played throughout the three-plus hours, and a photographer covered the first hour.