In 1971, Dutch and Emma DeCuir purchased 18 acres in beautiful Wall Township and began working on their labor of love.
With Dutch’s knowledge in the contracting business and Emma’s many years in the service industry, they began to transform these barren fields into a new spot to host a picnic. In the late 1980s, their son, Pete, joined the business and got right to work making the facilities even bigger and better than before. If you have been here in the last forty-seven years of our operation, chances are you’ve chatted with either Dutch or Pete over a burger or met Emma at the front gate.
If you haven’t been here in the last twenty, you’d have missed out on Pete’s big projects including a self-designed 18 hole miniature golf course, redesign of our pools and pool bathrooms, extension and renovation of our hilltop pavilion, expansion of our beach sand volleyball courts, our new cornhole toss areas, addition of many new playground attractions, and, most recently, a renovation of our main pavilion bathrooms.
In 2016, after almost ten years in the full-service restaurant industry, Pete’s daughter Sara joined the Oak Tree Lodge full time. She has taken over the catering operations, focusing on new dishes and fresh flavors.
We are the true definition of a family business that was started with a dream, a grill, and a few picnic tables. Pete and Sara strive every day to carry on Dutch’s philosophy of “Good Times, Good People, Hot Food, and Cold Drinks.”
Come on by and we will show you why “Life’s a Picnic!”