You may have noticed our clinics were recently transported back to 1999, with appearances from Ms. Frizzle, Richard Simmons, and all 17 Backstreet Boys. This year, SPEAR continued its 20th Anniversary celebrations at our annual team-building event, “Picnic in the Park,” (PiP) with a 90s theme.
Each summer, our company comes together to participate in friendly regional competitions throughout “SPEAR-IT” week to stay connected, engage our patients, and celebrate our teammates as we continue to grow.
Company members gathered in the park shortly before the final winners are announced.
Our clinics banded together to submit theme day entries that were put to a vote for our Instagram and Facebook followers. W 44th Street led our Liberty Region (Chelsea, W 75th Street, and W 44th Street) off to an incredible start, sweeping wins all week for Bust-a-Move Monday, TRL Tuesday, What-You-Wore Wednesday, and TV Thursday!
SPEAR’s W. 44th Street Clinic throwing it back to 1999 on “What-You-Wore Wednesday.”
On PiP Friday, our teammates earned points by taking over the streets of New York to challenge passers-by to cabbage patch dance-offs, start a “Friends” theme song sing-alongs on the subway, and hand out free t-shirts. The competition was fierce by the time everyone reached Central Park for lunch and games. Our Gotham Region (30 Broad Street, 70 Pine Street, Penn Plaza, and Murray Hill) pulled ahead after leading everyone through a groovy fitness challenge routine, and our W 57th clinic had everyone on the edge of their seats with a stadium-worthy final egg toss before bumping Freedom Region (E 56th Street, W 57th Street, W 67th Street, Plaza Hotel, and CityView) up another ten points. Ultimately, our Empire Region (E 84th Street, Tribeca Park Place, Brooklyn Heights, and Headquarters) brought it home for the ultimate win after racking up over 400 points during the scavenger hunt!
SPEAR-IT Warriors hustling together during our final PiP relay race event.
SPEAR’s “Picnic in the Park” event highlights the positive and supportive culture we build our teams around so that we can uphold our promise to provide patients with the most effective and empathetic care. This year that team spirit was all the more profoundly felt as we remembered one of our most inspiring leaders and late regional directors, Jimmy Olayos, by carrying him with us throughout the day.
“Let’s have a day!” -J.O.
You can check out all our clinics’ SPEAR-it week theme day submissions and some highlights from Friday’s Picnic in the Park on our Instagram and Facebook pages.
