The peaceful, verdant swath of Homewood's Garland Field did an about-face recently as the festive 1998 Hopkins Picnic brought out crowd-pleasing carnival games, the Hopkins Blue Jay, a balloon-bearing clown, lots of tasty barbecue fare, administrators-turned-grillmeisters and more than 700 attendees.

Steven Kayiaros gets dinner from the burger king, President William Brody. Warming up in the rear: Jerome Schnydman, executive assistant to the president, and Robert Massa, dean of enrollment management.