Ghost of Midnight
… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum
VT Neighbors Day, June 7
Since it began in Paris in 1999, Neighbors Day is celebrated annually by more than 30 countries on five continents. In 2018, Vermont became the first state in the U.S. to hold a statewide celebration of Neighbors Day! Front Porch Forum is eager to keep the tradition alive and be a resource to help communities gather on the first Saturday in June to celebrate.
Organize a Neighbors Day event on your road, in your neighborhood, or in your part of town! Each gathering will reflect the personality of the local community. Your Neighbors Day could be a BBQ, a plant swap, an ice cream social, or whatever you can imagine! The goal is to get to know the people living closest to you.
Ready to get started? Here are some ideas for Neighbors Day events:
- Potluck
- Book or plant exchange
- Dessert party or ice cream social
- Pancake breakfast
- Food drive event
- Whiffle ball or kickball game
- Talent show or musical performance
- Bake-off
- Outdoor movie screening
- Group yard sale
- Horseshoe or bocce tournament
- Playground or trail clean up effort
Planning with others is more fun! Reach out to folks to brainstorm together and share tasks. When you’re ready to promote your Neighbors Day gathering, here’s how you can use FPF to spread the word:
- Post about your event on your local Forum and Community Calendar:
- Go to frontporchforum.com/compose
- Select “Event” category
- Select “Forum + Calendar”
- Title event clearly (e.g., “BBQ for Stonegate Rd. Residents”)
- Include all the details neighbors need to know (where, what time, what to bring, who is invited)
- Make sure to let people know this is a VT Neighbors Day celebration!
- Post a reminder to your Forum two days in advance
Enjoy your Neighbors Day event! And, please send photos to memberoutreach@frontporchforum.com so we can share them. We can’t wait to hear about neighbor connections!
Posted in: Events, Front Porch Forum
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About Blog
Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more
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So happy FPF is continuing this great tradition!
What a great idea!!!! <3
So great to see this continue! Ready for a great meetup in the hood!
As posted on FPF by the Town Clerk of Lincoln, VT:
One of the things I am very grateful for is that I have wonderful neighbors. I love the people, their pets, their kids, and their gardens. It’s fun to see the things they do and to share time chatting with them. They have helped us out in a number of ways, and we try to reciprocate whenever we can. Several years ago, I was inspired by Front Porch Forum, to celebrate Neighbor Day, and I invited some new neighbors over for a little cookout. It was not an elaborate meal, but we had a good time sharing and learning about each other. Now we are great friends, and that was our ice breaker. I’m so glad I did it.
Whether you have new neighbors or not, this coming Saturday, June 7, is Neighbor Day. (And of course it’s supposed to rain AGAIN!). A cookout might not be very promising, but I am determined to connect with someone this weekend. I encourage all of you to do the same. Here are some neighborly ideas:
(1) Dinner invitation, (2)Share some garden surplus if you have it, or just talk about your gardens together, (3) Plan a child or doggie play date, (4) Go for a walk together, (5) Make a batch of cookies, soup, or some favorite recipe to share, (6) Plan a block or street party for someday when the weather is better, (7) Play or sing a song for your neighbor if you have such a talent, (8) Share stories about birds you have seen in your yard, (9) Go out for coffee or tea together, (10) Offer to help stack their pile of wood—the possibilities are endless!
Get creative or keep it simple. Notice that none of these things has to involve politics. If you think you have differences, set them aside so you can find what you have in common. Whatever you decide, you probably won’t regret making that connection, and you might just make a friend for life!