Southmoor Gardens Neighborhood Association

October 2006 Block Party

A PREMIER EVENT

In October, neighbors at 68th and Broadmoor held the first-ever street party. The experience was so positive that there is talk of making this an annual event. Here is a report from one of the organizers, Jason Schnurr.

By all accounts, the first annual Southmoor Gardens block party was an unprecedented success. We guesstimate that we had approximately 200 neighbors in attendance, and, by all those who chose to count, that doesn't even include the children. There was a wonderful variety of older families, young families, and newlyweds from all reaches of the neighborhood. We even had a city official and several political candidates visit in order to get acquainted with the residents of Southmoor Gardens and to find out what some of our interests and concerns are.

There was a wonderful assortment of desserts and side dishes, with hotdogs and brats hot off the grill. A big thank-you is owed to all the families along 68th St. for scrambling through their pantries in an attempt to make up for the shortage of hotdogs and buns. We never could have imagined running out of soda, hotdogs, buns, water, EVERYTHING - what a wonderful problem to have! It only reinforces what a huge success the event was. Also, a big thank-you to Steve Langton for allowing us to use his smoker and for tending the grill for the major part of the festivities.

We also had a moonwalk for the young and a few of the young-at-heart. This was very popular, judging by the line to get in - often 5 or 6 children long until long after the sun went down. A good time was had by all.

I believe it is safe to say that our expectations were exceeded by the wonderful participation of the Southmoor Gardens neighborhood, and we would like to turn this wildly successful first annual block party into a stepping stone for community activity. We hope to encourage our tenured and new neighbors alike to increase their participation.

Our annual potluck dinner in November will offer another opportunity to get together, as will our regularly-scheduled neighborhood meetings in the odd months of the year. A few of us are throwing around various ideas to help the neighborhood, such a dumpster day, or perhaps you know a neighbor who needs a hand with large waste removal or yard clean-up. If you have any ideas you would like to share, please feel free to contact Joan Wagstaff or Steve Langton.

Again, thank you to everyone who helped execute the block party and to everyone who participated. Start recruiting, and spreading the word for next year, and, hopefully, we will see you sooner than later.