The Royal Reach Reach-out was planned by Susanne Nielsen and Jan DeGrass. On Saturday, August 31 we had about 30 adults and ten kids meet at our strata parking lot where we had put two borrowed shade shelters. Susanne checked for food prices and found the lowest prices for prepared platters of meat, cheese, salad, and fruit along with buns and condiments for sandwich making. She took care of food ordering and pick up, and also bought chalk and bubbles for the kids. She attended a strata meeting to keep the strata council informed.
Jan bought cold drinks at sale prices and arranged coolers and ice. She booked the musician Graham Walker, an entertainer for adults and kids. She put notices around the strata complex through email and later by printed message tucked into doors. (The messages with logo noted that the money had come from Neighbourhood Small Grants.) She put up shade shelters with another resident and arranged the tables, and then helped volunteers with clean-up.
Challenges: the night before, Jan contacted one of the strata residents who we had been told had two long tables. He informed her that he had only one little card table. Jan scurried around the complex and found two good tables to borrow. We had an over zealous resident who wanted at a late date to repeat some of the work we had already done, e.g. put more notices around the complex, move us to a new location, etc. She was challenging and yet on the day of the event she was very helpful in setting up. It was a good lesson in making sure that we put the right person on the right job.
The ten little kids were a highlight. They played with bubbles and chalk and had a great time, allowing parents to chat with their neighbours. The music was also good as the musician knew old favourites and had a sing along. People stayed after the musician left to have more chat with their neighbours. We had several thank you emails sent to us by several residents saying what a good time they had. It will pay off in good communication with neighbours.
