by Lyn Hunter, senior program manager

If you were a stranger to my little neighborhood in Hillman City, you would probably not be able to match up the individuals who made up a household. We are a beautiful block of “mixed up everything” as one of my neighbors put it. It’s one of the many things that I love about it. And on Tuesday night, we got together for the official annual Night Out celebration - but in our neck of the woods we just called it a good old fashioned neighborhood potluck. Our sixth, we think.  

Over lemonade, Miss Betty shared stories about growing up in Louisiana and that Jana was fasting that evening to remember the tragedies of the Jewish people. We are all excited for Mario to return from visiting family in Guatemala and oh, that mysterious car that has been idling in front of Heather’s house late at night was Leah’s new boyfriend and no cause for alarm. And over brownies, we talked about the elections, the cutting of the 7 Express bus (noooo!), traffic safety, our neighborhood school and crime prevention. It was a reminder about the importance of knowing your neighbors, not only when disaster strikes but for civic advancements as well.

Imagine if we could re-create these kinds of conversations across the nation – what a stronger country we would be! Civic strength will be the topic of an upcoming discussion that Seattle CityClub and Philanthropy Northwest are presenting next week. I hope to see you there and hear tales from your neighborhood Night Out gatherings – maybe over brownies and lemonade.