I’ve always been a HUGE fan of neighborhood block parties! I’ve had the good fortune to live in neighborhoods both large and small. Block parties are a wonderful way not only to get to know your neighbors, but to bond with them as well. Who knows what interests, values, background and personal histories you share with the family right up the street?
Block parties have been around a long time, literally as long as there’ve been ‘blocks’ of homes together. Perhaps prehistoric man enjoyed roasting a boar on a spit with his fellow surrounding cave mates!
We last lived in a neighborhood of over 300 homes. It was large, but very, very friendly, with planned and organized activities for children, adults, sports buffs and families. The community had its own pool, clubhouse, two functioning marinas, and a large, well-mainted childrens’ playground. It was, in short, the perfect place in which to raise a family: you could join and take part in as many activities within a large range of interests as you chose, or you could simply prefer not to take part in any of them. If you wanted to maintain your own ‘space’ and privacy, that was more than acceptable. Neighbors STILL included you in situations that warranted it – if someone in your household was sick and needed help, if a neighbor passed away, when help was needed outside or around the house, word spread quickly – and someone soon came a’knocking. It was like living in a little city unto itself.
About twelve years ago, we moved to a significantly smaller community: thirty homes on several acres each. Shortly after we moved in, a neighbor mentioned almost in passing that folks move to the Pointe because they “either had a lot of family in the area or had a really big family with lots of kids and needed lots of space. We are on a cul de sac, cut off from the center of town (and everything else, for that matter), by a busy county road. It is not a warm, fuzzy neighborhood. People really DO prefer their privacy, and rarely socialize, at least together. When a relatively new neighbor wanted to organize a block party to celebrate a town-wide achievement, she told me that she was shocked to have received responses from only 30% of our neighbors. Frankly, I was surprised that she had THAT much of a response! (The end result was a party of about twenty folks – kids and adults – who lazed in lawn chairs on New Neighbor’s front yard for a couple of hours.)
Whether you live in a large, friendly neighborhood, one that routinely hosts organized social activities for folks of all ages, or one that has no homeowners association or any kind of evident bond other than that their homes align, organizing and/or hosting a neighborhood block parties is one of the easiest and most rewarding things you’ll ever do. I’ve organized them in neighborhoods in Buffalo, Baltimore, Annapolis and more – even an ‘apartment block party’ in Washington, D.C. It’s also one of the easiest things that you’ll do for which the payback is huge!
Now that many of us are figuratively and in some cases literally trapped in our homes by bitter cold and snow, this is a great time to start your planning. Snuggle up with your favorite blanket, warm beverage, and a pad of paper; this is the best time to work on this project! The suggestions below have come from personal experience, and can apply to both large and smaller neighborhoods.
First, pick out a date. Don’t plan something for the spring, if you possibly can. Spring weather can be coolish and fickle, plus many families go away for spring or Easter break. A lot of sports will also be starting up in the spring as well for the kids – soccer, lacrosse, softball, baseball – and weekends for a lot of people may be tightly scheduled already. The ideal time to organize a block party is pretty soon after the school year ends. Your best bet would be the first or second week after school lets out, on a Saturday. By then, school has let out for the year, the organized school and intramural sports season is over, and people will be actually looking forward to getting together with each other. Also, if you hold it in early summer, chances are that a lot of folks haven’t left for vacation yet, or the kids haven’t yet headed off for camp. The same holds true for a late summer block party: kids’ sports programs start up in August, families plan one last week or week-end at the beach.
Time and Location: It’s customary, at least in the Mid Atlantic and Northeast, to hold a block party beginning around 1:00 P.M. and lasting at least until 5:00 P.M., or longer if you have evening entertainment or activities planned. Since you’re the one organizing the block party, it’s kind of a default rule that it be held at your house as well. (Block parties, by their nature, are held outdoors, on the host’s front or back yards. They can even span the length of two adjoining houses.) If you’re really not up to having it at your house, ask around to see if someone else would actually LIKE to host it. You may find someone who loves the idea of entertaining but not the planning that goes into it.
Invitations: Always, always, always send out a WRITTEN invitation, usually in the form of a flier. (If at all possible and highly recommended is the use of very brightly colored paper for the fliers – lime green, orange, yellow, bright blue – and decorate them as well. Use a larger, bolder font. You can run these off on your home computer or have them done at places like Staples.) Do not rely on telephone calls or emails. Once your flier is complete, WALK IT AROUND to your neighbors. You could, of course, mail them through the post office as well, but it actually makes it more inviting if you hand deliver them to people. Remember not to leave them in the USPS mail boxes; they’ll be thrown away by the carrier. You don’t have to deliver the invitations themselves until three to four weeks in advance. Leash up your puppy or put the kids in a stroller, set aside a few evenings to walk to your neighbors’ homes and hand-deliver them. If this is impossible, then please go the USPS route. If you email them, you risk a) not having everyone’s correct email address, b) having someone else open up the email and deleting it before the adults see it, or c) having it deleted by its recipient on the assumption that it’s ‘spam’ mail.
The invitations should be VERY specific. Include the EXACT address (not “the Murphy’s house”, an actual street address), the name(s) of the host, a rain date if necessary (more on that later), the date, the time span, and what your guests are expected to bring. (Most block parties consist of food brought by guests, and/or a small dollar amount – $10 to $20 generally – to pay for beverages, paper goods, and a large-scale dish such as meatballs in sauce, hoagies, pizza, salads with or without meat, etc.) Tell folks what their $10/$20 will be used for as well. Be sure to mention that the entire family is invited. Be sure to include both an RSVP name, telephone number and email for yourself, and set a date to receive those RSVP’s. (Your biggest batch of RSVP’s will be received very shortly after you’ve given out the fliers. If you have the time and energy, you can always follow up with a phone call or email to those people from whom you haven’t heard. Do this one week before the party.) Also be sure to include what FOODS you’re asking your guests to bring.
The ideal menu includes simple food prepared well. This can translate into large bowls of salad – Caesar, chicken, shrimp, egg, tuna, or green- enough to serve 10 to 15 guests for each salad. You can also ask guests to provide rolls (dinner or sandwich, if you’re serving cold cuts as well), and casseroles are always a bit hit. Ask for both hot AND cold casseroles: green bean, meatballs in sauce, tuna fish, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, or a crab, shrimp or lobster dish. Relish trays (sliced tomato, lettuce, pickles, pickled onions, hot peppers, marinated peppers, chow chow) are always welcomed, as well as vegetable trays or platters. With more and more folks eating healthier, be sure to have enough food on hand for vegans and/or non-meat eaters. Platters of deviled eggs are a great choice; ask guests to come up with an appetizer, again all foods to be plentiful enough to serve at least 10 to 15 people. Another must-have are fruit trays! If you’re planning on grilling out, ask for hot dogs, frozen hamburgers, and the appropriate buns. Be sure to have enough ketchup and mustard on hand, too.
Desserts are a must-have! Ask your guests to bring ‘finger food’ types of desserts: brownies, cookies, lemon bars, fruit tarts, pre-sliced cakes and pies. (The last thing you need to do is run around cutting up desserts at the last minute, although, frankly, that’s not the end of the world.)
If you’re ambitious enough, you can give your guests the choice of what they’d like to bring from among appetizers, fruit and vegetable trays, casseroles and desserts. Whatever way you go, be specific on the invitations that a) the dish should be large enough to feed those 10-15 guests and b) respond back to you asap with their choice. Otherwise, you may end up with five casseroles, ten appetizers, and seventeen desserts! Better to stick with TELLING your guests what you need each of them to bring. Leave a blank space on your invitations to fill in what each individual family is requested to bring, and fill it out yourself. In addition to what the guests will be bringing, which may or may not include hot dogs and hamburgers, you should have at least two large ‘family servings’ of a substantial entree. Each of these two entrees should be enough to feed your entire guest list. At least one of these dishes should be hot. Suggestions include spaghetti and meatballs, ravioli, sauteed chicken breasts, stuffed shells, baked chicken wings or a combination of thighs/wings, lasagne, a baked ham, a whole turkey, a rib roast, or baked/sauteed chicken or veal cutlets, a marinated vegetable medley, a rice dish (with or without meat), scalloped potatoes with or without diced ham or bacon. to name just a few. You can either make these dishes ahead of time yourself, or purchase them from a warehouse store such as Costco. I’ve had great success with large entrees purchased the day before or day of a block party, reheating them at home, and keeping them warm in an appropriate serving dish or tray.
Rain dates? I’m not a big fan of them. If you set a rain date, chances are that on the date of the original block party, some people will show up at your door with big smiles and a covered casserole anyway. Rather than setting a rain date, be sure that you or the other person whose house you’re using is able to accomodate the guests inside. You can entertain them in the kitchen, the family room, the basement, Florida or sun room, and it will be quite cozy. Don’t worry about having your house in immaculate condition; your neighbors are there to meet and greet, and are actually quite GRATEFUL to you for having them as your guests. If it looks like rain, move out your valuable pieces to a safe place, tidy up a bit, clear out some extra space (which translates into picking up the kids’ toys from the floor), and enjoy the day.
As for your RSVP attendance rate? Any number over 50% can be considered not only festive, but gratifying!
You’ve locked in on your date and time, your invitations are already formatted on your computer, ready to be printed out on bold paper, you have the outline of your menu locked in (at least, at an early stage, which two family entrees to serve) – what’s next? As the day draws closer and your RSVP’s have arrived and are finalized, write out what you’ll need in terms of paper goods: plates, napkins, cups, forks, knives, spoons. Be sure to buy sturdy paper plates; if you’re going to spend extra money on anything, make it really good, durable plates! Also decide if you want table clothes and/or decorations. All of these items can be purchased in bulk from your local warehouse stores or party goods stores. Don’t buy until you have the final number of guests in hand, and even then, add about ten people more for those who really meant to RSVP but didn’t, for whatever reason – they may very well show up anyway!
You’ll also have to consider beverages. If you feel that alcoholic beverages are a must-have, limit it strictly to beer and/or wine. Buy in bulk – don’t waste good money on top of the line products, this is, after all, a block party. Purchase ‘boxed’ wine, bottled beer, make sure that you have containers – coolers, even wheelbarrows – large enough that you can fill them with ice and replenish them. I personally really don’t like the idea of serving anything alcoholic at a block party; it is, after all, a family affair. Plus, you don’t want anyone leaving drunk or risking the children sneaking off with a beer or glass of wine. I’d stick with soft drinks, bottled water, and lemonade myself. Again, buy in bulk at your warehouse store. Set up a separate table the day of the party with only beverages: put out the plastic bottles or cans, together with napkins, paper cups, and at least two buckets of ice.
Your final step is to think about activities. Buy name tags for everyone if you’re having over ten people, write out the names yourself, and have them handy to be given to guests as they arrive. If you’re having a lot of younger children, designate a safe play area for them, and be sure that they have a rotation of chaperones to watch over them. (These can be your own older kids, the older children of friends or guests, or even think about hiring one or two professional babysitters for the day.) If there’s room for the kids to play field sports – soccer, football, basketball, croquet – set aside a designated area for those sports. Be sure to have the necessary equipment on hand. You may either have it yourself, or borrow (heavily) from friends and neighbors. As for the adults, ‘games’ aren’t really necessary. They are there to meet and greet. Your only ‘duty’ there may be to float from group to group to make sure that no one who is new or shy is left out. The main purpose of your block party, after all, is for old and new friends to come together in a simple, comfortable and home-like setting. There’s no need to overdo it with scheduled, planned activities. Do plan for people to stay later than the 5:00 P.M. time, though, especially if the party is going really well. Relax – if you run out of food, you run out of food. It is not the end of the world as we know it!
Now you’re both armed and ready. You have the framework of your block party sketched out, even if it’s months away. You should be organized enough that you can enjoy yourself at your own party, since all of the planning and ‘work’ has been done. If you follow these tried and true suggestions, you’re bound to have a great block party that folks will be talking about until – you do it again next year!
