Category Archives: Community Building
New Friends and Snapping Turtles
Will just posted the following on his town’s Front Porch Forum…
Thanks to the Front Porch Forum for letting two would-be strangers recognize each other as a
result of being FPF members. Last Sunday, while driving to town I saw a baby snapping turtle crossing the road right by the auto place on rte 2 between Richmond and rte 89. I parked where I could, jumped out of the car, grabbed some tools from the back of my car and proceeded to flag people to slow down as I approached the dazed turtle. A woman slowed and asked if I needed help, and I immediately said, “Yes!”
Though it was a baby, it was still about 14″ long and weighed about 30 pounds. So as I lifted the turtle, the woman who stopped to help steadied it while we escorted him across the rest of rte 2 and way up and over the other side of the railroad tracks. We bid him farewell and told him to NOT turn around! The kind woman and I exchanged names only to find that we recognized each other from the FPF. We had engaged in conversation through the forum, and I found it humbling to have actually known this person, though we had not actually met face to face. Thank you FPF for being an avenue for me to make new friends through! Hi Enid!
Multiply this story by thousands of times and you get what’s happening all over our little metro-area. Thanks for sharing Will!
Porch Parties a Good Start
The Detroit Free Press ran an article yesterday that caught my eye. It opens with…
Christiane Lenz has lived in her Farmington Hills subdivision for six years and knows only a handful of her neighbors.
But that could change, as Lenz plans to host a porch party, an initiative of the Farmington and Farmington Hills Multicultural Multiracial Community Council. The parties, organizers say, are a way for residents to revive the tradition of neighborly, informal gatherings and hopefully spark new friendships.
“You don’t see people together,” said Lenz, 49, who is planning a September party. “Everyone keeps to themselves.”
There should be several parties held throughout the community in the summer, and at least six are already in the works. The gatherings are intended to be casual, with potlucks or dessert-only events among the party ideas from the council. The council also will provide talking points or icebreaker activities. Karen Bolsen, executive director of the council, said attendees should shy away from controversial topics such as race, politics and religion.
Bolsen said the porch party idea came about after community members said they felt disconnected from neighbors. The parties are a way for residents in Farmington and Farmington Hills to better understand their ethnically and racially diverse neighbors…
Sounds great! I’d suggest to the organizers that while these porch parties will be a good start, they should use them as a starting point for something more… a monthly event, organizing a group to work on something (new playground, clean-up crew, stop unwanted development, traffic calming, etc.), or a service like Front Porch Forum.
Doing something once is good and relatively easy. Converting that good stuff into sometime sustainable over time is much more valuable and takes real work.
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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