From a coffee table to Columbus, Picnic with the Pops formed from commitment

Ever wonder how the long-running and highly successful Picnic with the Pops gotstarted? Well, stay tuned.

Now 75 and living in Arizona, Tim Horn went to Gahanna schools, was a straight-A student and elected by his classmates as "Most Likely to Succeed."

He hoped to be the first in his family to go to college. He did.

He graduated from Ohio State in 1970, then earned a master's in city planning from OSU's school of architecture in 1973 — working all the while to pay for school.

After graduation, Horn started working at Brubaker/Brandt Inc. Architects and Planners when he came up with the idea for Picnic with the Pops — after a luncheon in Lexington, Kentucky.

"At lunch at his club, I asked Larry Branstetter what he and his wife did last weekend," Horn said.

"He replied that he had happily gone to an outdoor concert that featured the local symphony. On my drive back to Columbus, I created a plan in my mind to see if I could build something like that in Columbus," he said.

"I was enthused because I often went to the symphony, and I really enjoyed it. I thought putting it on the grounds at Chemical Abstracts (Service) would be a great location.

"It was just off campus and a place, unlike public grounds, where we could control the area and our attendees could drink their favorite beverages at tables or on a blanket with a basket of their favorite food, all at a beautiful twilight concert."

Horn added, "When I was nearing my home in Upper Arlington, I wondered about getting the symphony to play. The proceeds would be for them. The problem was they had never done that before.

"I found the advocate I needed who was on the Columbus Symphony Board . I briefly explained it and she was in. That wonderful woman was Fran Luckoff."

The planning then began.

"Most of the big parts were reasoned out by the time I got home," Horn said. "The next day, I began to set up the new 'Picnic with the Pops Committee.' I laid out my plans on my coffee table with my then-girlfriend, Dr. Sharon McQuillan, and got Kelli Morton and her mother involved.

"I took my plans over to my good friend, EJ Thomas, and continued to build the committee out of friends, George Black and others I knew," he said.

The bylaws were next on the list of things to do.

"I was on the Upper Arlington Civic Association Board and modeled our bylaws fromtheirs, and I registered it with the State of Ohio with the voluntary services of attorney Keith Karr," Horn said.

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Karr said he remembers it well.

"The entire project started on his table," said Karr. "As the founder of Picnic with the Pops, Tim's efforts can be summed up in two words: unselfishness and commitment," he said.

It's amazing how one unselfish vision and commitment can benefit so many."

The first Picnic with the Pops was July 22, 1983, on the grounds of Chemical Abstracts Service with about 1,000 people in attendance.

"That night, the '1812 Overture' was played with accompanying cannons in the rear of the field," Horn said.

"The Dispatch carried a photo of me with Gov. Celeste and his wife smiling as cannon smoke surrounded us.

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"PWP was created and accomplished," he said, "by a hopeful group of young friends who were ordinary people outside of the normal sphere of the symphony. All of us, in every business, every enterprise and every family, should be aware that sometimes what you really need to make a big move forward may be just slightly out of your view. We should all dare to take a wider look."

Drew Bracken grew up in Upper Arlington, was a TV news anchor for years and is a longtime freelance writer for Gannett newspapers. If you have a suggestion for a future inspirational profile, email Emily Rohozen, entertainment and things-to-do editor, at erohozen@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Picnic with the Pops began from an idea and a coffee table