Block parties bring neighborhoods together

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – One way to create a more neighborly neighborhood is to regularly gather folks together for fun and social interaction.

We’re talking block parties.

Cathy O’Malley, a Kansas City-based party planner and event coordinator, has these tips for organizing block parties:

• Check the rules. You may need a permit to throw a large, block-style party.

• Form a committee to help with the planning and logistics.

• Distribute invitations in neighbors’ doors. Use neighborhood newsletters to publicize the event.

If allowed, post fliers on utility poles and mailboxes, etc. Consider restricting the geographic area within which people will be invited.

O’Malley says parties are easier to organize and manage if the number of invitees is small.

• Assign one or two neighbors responsibility for arranging for tables and chairs. An alternative is to ask each family to bring chairs.

• Buy meat from a local barbecue establishment. O’Malley says this lifts the responsibility of cooking, allowing more time for socializing.

• Ask each family in attendance to donate money to cover the cost of tableware, meat and beer, etc.

•Assign responsibility for bringing side dishes to neighbors with odd-numbered addresses. Assign hors d’oeuvres and desserts to neighbors with even-numbered addresses.

• Live music is nice but unnecessary. It can be expensive, and the point of the party is not to re-create Woodstock but to encourage neighbors to interact and get to know one another. However, music does make parties more festive, so assign a neighbor the responsibility of bringing CDs and a player.

If you’re lucky, a neighbor may actually have the talent and the taste to create a party mix disc or two just for the occasion.

Other entertainment options for adults include karaoke or an “open mike” stage where people can perform musical acts, skits and stand-up comedy routines.

•Consider drawing for door prizes. If you want to encourage maximum participation and attendance, hold the drawing near the end of the event and require that people be present to win.

• An alternative to holding the party on a blocked-off street is to arrange for two or more adjacent homes to allow their driveways and garages to be used for the party. This may require that members of the planning committee help the host families clean their garages for the event. This option provides shelter in case of rain.

• Make sure there are plenty of trash barrels.

• Rope off flowerbeds, etc. with yellow “police tape.”

• O’Malley stresses that the single most important factor in organizing a successful block party is providing entertainment for children.

“If kids are running wild, then the adults won’t be having any fun at all,” she says. “Same is true if the kids are bored and whining.” She suggests the following:

• Clowns are tried-and-true entertainment for kids of all ages. Clowns will usually do face painting, balloon tricks and sculpture and short performances. Ponies are also popular.

• Fire departments will sometimes agree to bring a truck to a party. Kids are allowed to sit inside the cab, and firefighters will explain the workings of the truck.

• Consider renting an inflatable “moonwalk” or slide. Offer to pay neighborhood teenagers to supervise these activities.

O’Malley says that supervision of the use of inflatables is critical, especially if bigger kids are jumping around with small kids. The best thing is to separate them and let them alternate using the equipment for periods of time.

“The truth is, if kids are happy and occupied, the grown-ups will have fun, too,” O’Malley says. “If the kids are cranky and bored or out of control, nobody will have a good time.

“And that, after all, is the whole point of a block party.”