Has anyone ever organized a block party?

[Beth76]

I'm thinking of doing this sometime this fall. Perhaps even on Halloween before trick-or-treating. But, I'm not even sure how to go about doing it. We live on a cul-de-sac with about 25 houses and several families with kids. I figure we could have a good turn-out seeing how Halloween is on Sunday. Our street isn't very social (except for the kids), so I'm hoping that a block party might stir things up a little and get people talking. Any tips or advice on how to start planning would be great!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I am doing it now....

Well we have 219 houses and I am a trustee. So we have money to spend for our party.

We have a washers tournament, new this year is a chili cookoff, we bbq hamburgers & hotdogs, and for the kids we have rented those jumping things.

I am trying to get donations for attendance prizes from local area businesses.

Sounds like you don't have any money to work with so perhaps you can have people donate stuff for a basket raffle? Do potluck?
Karaoke?

We also have to rent a "potty" since it is so many people.

We did talk about having the kids have a "bike parade" but couldn't logicstically do it.

 

[Jennifer S]

I'd start small for the first one and let it grow from there. What I did for our first one was put a flyer on everyones mailbox stating the party, date, time, place and to please bring a side dish or dessert (check the box) then we collected $10 from every house to buy hamburgers and hot dogs,buns, ketchuo, etc.If we had money left over we rented a clown for the kids. You could also buy some prizes and have a Halloween contest for best costumes, A couple of us pulled out our grills and lawn furniture. It's a great way to meet and have fun w/ your neighbors.

 

[MI mom of 3]

I did one for many years on our block.

I had to get a petition from the police and take it door to door. I had to get a certain percentage ( can't remember what) of the neighbors to agree to have it since we would have the street blocked off. Ours is a small neighborhood so we would have everyone bring a dish. We each brought our grills around to the front of the houses and provided our own meats. One year a few of us bought supplies for the kids to decorate their bikes and then they put on a parade for us. One of the favorites was one year we had the fire department come. They talked to the kids, let them climb in the truck and play with the hose. I swear we had more dads than kids who kept trying to come back for more. One year we had the police come and give a talk to the kids.

We always had a pinata and water balloons. Nothing cost a lot and everyone had a ball.

Of course I usually ended up in the house with a headache from the stress of it.

We don't do it anymore but I am glad we did it. I still like to look at all the pictures.

 

[MerryPoppins]

We used to have block parties in our neighborhood. I probably should organize one again. We just put notes on doors with the date and time. Several people offered to bring picnic tables and grills out front. We asked for people to bring chairs, a potluck dish, hamburgers/hotdogs for their family, plates, drinks, etc.

This took little organization and everyone had a wonderful time. We usually had ours in the summer, but fall might be a wonderful idea!

 

[totalia]

No. I hate parties.

 

[Beth76]

Thank you (most) everyone. I think I have some ideas to get started. I'm not looking to do anything too big, so it shouldn't be that difficult really. I just have to make the decision to actually do it. I'm still open to suggestions and ideas......

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

We live on a circle with about 25 houses. When we did an ice cream social, we told families with names beginning with A-M to bring a dessert. Families with names beginning with N-Z had to bring a churn of ice cream. They could trade off with someone. We provided the paper products.

It really is great fun for the neighborhood kids and we enjoyed it too.

I did the Halloween Party one year and everyone brought an appetizer and we provided everything else. I made a big pot of chili and hot dogs for the kids. I borrowed several bails of hay from my ILs farm and spread them out on the garage and driveway. I covered them with old quilts. The adults even dressed up. We had a blast.

PM me if you have any questions. You'll never regret having a block party. A lot of people come and are very grateful that it wasn't at their house!

Lori

 

[missypie]

We have one every year on the Saturday afternoon/evening before the time changes. DH and a neighbor are always "in charge." DH gets permission from the city to baricade the streets-the city delivers the baricades on Friday afternoon and picks them up on Monday morning. Several weeks before the party we deliver "save the date" flyers, then deliver another a few days before the party. One year the odd numbered houses bring main course, evens being everything else; the next year we switch. I always make a big ham or something big like that, in case folks don't bring enough food. We all sort of pool card tables and everyone brings lawn chairs. The kids have themost fun because they get to ride their trikes, scooters, etc, down the middle of the street all night. I always wonder about the folks sitting at home who choose NOT to attend...would it really be so bad to stroll outside for a few minutes to meet the neighbors?