Project Leader: Justina LeeStolz
This project turned out super well and got the community out to a central park to socialize, connect and make new friends. Initially I met up with a couple of neighbors to brain storm whether we should do a bunch of little cul-de-sac parties or one big park party and ultimately decided it would be easiest to manage and better for connection to have everyone in one place. So we went ahead and picked a park, got the permissions needed from the city and then started envisioning what the day would look like. I wanted to have live music, so contacted a local highschool jazz band. I wanted to have something fun for the kids to do so I planned to have a bunch of yard games and interactive games, but eventually a community member brought in a bouncy castle for the kids. Of course, there had to be food, so I planned out getting people to register for the event so that I could be the appropriate amount of food and not buy in excess to have waste at the end. Then I thought it would be amazing to have some local businesses have info booths at the event to share what commerce is happening in our area and had several people sign up to be in the Community Corner. The cherry on top was the idea of inviting the local fire department to come with a fire truck so that our community can meet the heros that save our homes during the crazy fire seasons and of course it’s a thrill for the kids (and adults) to get to see a fire truck up close and personal! All in all, it was a beautiful sunny day with good food, good music, lots of fun smiles and laughter!
