Our neighbourhood encompasses an area that is framed by two small mountains (or large hills) with a lake and a beach at the bottom. There are 53 houses in this area and many of us know each other at least by sight. In an effort to bring people together, one of the neighbours, Kate, invited folks to the local hall for an evening of information on emergency preparedness. Unfortunately, there were not too many in attendance. So some of us who were there had our own second meeting and decided that a neighbourhood party in the summer would be more attractive…and we could still have information available on preparedness in our area. To add to the day, we also thought that free raffle draws for emergency bag items would be a great addition. We applied for a Neighbourhood Small Grant and this helped us purchase items from local stores and also rent tables and chairs for the outdoor party.
The party was held outdoors (great weather!) on one of the streets and 40 people from the 53 houses dropped in to chat, meet neighbours, share food, listen to music, enter the raffle draw and take some of the information home with them. All in all we deemed the day to be a big success and we hope to make this neighbourhood party an annual event!
