This will now be an addition to what I take out to my next community BBQ.
Some goods things to consider.
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
This sums it up well
This was a great gift from my son and daughter in law (who also would like to do community BBQ's in their neighbourhood).
This will now be an addition to what I take out to my next community BBQ.
Some goods things to consider.
This will now be an addition to what I take out to my next community BBQ.
Some goods things to consider.
Great response
Sept. 24, 2016 (Yes, I am late in doing this blog)
Arkell Meadows
In similar fashion to other successful BBQ's I did the following:
1) took a look around the neighbourhood to determine where we might have the BBQ. This neighbourhood had a nice dead end on one of the main streets where we could all gather for our BBQ.
2) set up SignupGenius.com so people could indicate what they could bring
3) created a handout with the needed information
4) walked the neighbourhood and put a piece in each units front door
As you can see it was a beautiful September day and many attended. There were also a number who gave contact information and would like to be involved in another community BBQ.
I hope to contact those people and help them initiate a community BBQ of their own sometime this spring/summer.
The ultimate goal is for people in their neighbourhood to want to continue this as a regular event in their neighbourhood. I will be glad to help them organize their own BBQ, then leave it in their hands, unless they feel they need my assistance.
That way I am free to initiate community BBQ's in new areas!
Arkell Meadows
In similar fashion to other successful BBQ's I did the following:
1) took a look around the neighbourhood to determine where we might have the BBQ. This neighbourhood had a nice dead end on one of the main streets where we could all gather for our BBQ.
2) set up SignupGenius.com so people could indicate what they could bring
3) created a handout with the needed information
4) walked the neighbourhood and put a piece in each units front door
As you can see it was a beautiful September day and many attended. There were also a number who gave contact information and would like to be involved in another community BBQ.
I hope to contact those people and help them initiate a community BBQ of their own sometime this spring/summer.
The ultimate goal is for people in their neighbourhood to want to continue this as a regular event in their neighbourhood. I will be glad to help them organize their own BBQ, then leave it in their hands, unless they feel they need my assistance.
That way I am free to initiate community BBQ's in new areas!
 |
| Loading up, ready to go |
Lesson learned
October 3, 2015 (Yes, I am very late in creating this blog)
Arkell Lofts
I felt it was appropriate to contact the condo association in order to get word out about the BBQ. Turns out a number of the units are rented out. The owners all got notice of the BBQ but I don't think any of them passed that information on to the people renting their units.
As people saw us setting up, and asked what we were up to, we were able to let them know (for the first time) that we were doing a community BBQ in a few minutes. Fortunately a few joined us and contributed.
I gathered a few email addresses of those who might be interested in helping in a future BBQ. They may have moved by now.
Lesson learned - putting a notice in each door is still the best way to let people know about an upcoming event. I won't make that mistake again.
Arkell Lofts
I felt it was appropriate to contact the condo association in order to get word out about the BBQ. Turns out a number of the units are rented out. The owners all got notice of the BBQ but I don't think any of them passed that information on to the people renting their units.
As people saw us setting up, and asked what we were up to, we were able to let them know (for the first time) that we were doing a community BBQ in a few minutes. Fortunately a few joined us and contributed.
I gathered a few email addresses of those who might be interested in helping in a future BBQ. They may have moved by now.
Lesson learned - putting a notice in each door is still the best way to let people know about an upcoming event. I won't make that mistake again.
Sunday, 27 September 2015
Success!
Success!
Having hosted the first community BBQ in my own neighbourhood, I believe it was a
success.
 |
| The table |
I'd like to tell you a little bit more about the process.
Our
small area has about 57 houses. I wanted to hand deliver an invitation to each home one week before the BBQ. I took some time to knock on the doors of those in the neighbourhood that I knew and realized that I couldn't do that for every home because of the time involved.
 |
| A helper who gave me time to eat and chat |
At the end of the blog I have included some of the details of the invitation including the sign up process.
 |
| Come and get it! |
On the day of the event it looked like it was going to rain. I didn't want to assume this event would be ruined by the weather. I have seen too many situations where the weather and dark clouds can all change in a matter of 5 minutes depending on
the day. By the time the BBQ was to start the weather was holding fine for us.
Because of questionable weather, I tried to be there 15 minutes early so people would know the event was still on.
About 20 people showed up and made new connections and renewed
existing ones. We had a mix of people from ages 8 to 88. This represented approximately 20% of the people in the neighbourhood which is not bad for one weeks notice for a Saturday noon event.
 |
| A nice sized group |
In the future I may also include a name tag for people to write their name and street address as a simple identifier.
I also had a sheet that asked for
Name
Address
Email or phone number
I could help with a winter rink (more about that in another
blog)
I would like to help with another event like this
Something I would like to offer to this neighbourhood is
(eg. Roto-tiller)
I have a need for … (eg. Help raking leaves)
The idea was to collect some information and introduce the
idea of neighbourhood sharing of resources. Some people filled out that form
even though I neglected to mention anything specific about it.
 |
| Very little garbage from the event |
A number of people expressed their appreciation for this simple neighbourhood event with a hope that there would be more in the future.
Next week … planning a similar event in an area that is not part
of my immediate neighbourhood.
Stay tuned.
The Invitation:
Malvern Ridgeway Community BBQ
A chance to meet our neighbours on Malvern and Ridgeway
I then added the detail of
I will bring the BBQ, plates, cutlery, cups and a few burgers, not enough for everyone so please sign up for what you can bring at
or
Online signup was nice so people could see what was needed and then sign up to bring that.
At the bottom I included my email address, street address (because it was my own neighbourhood) and cell phone number as I knew some people in our neighbourhood would not necessarily have computers.
... finishing off with a picture of the location as a visual reference.
Sunday, 13 September 2015
Canadian Tire believes in communities in Guelph!
What is a community BBQ without a BBQ? My BBQ is a little
old (holding on by one bolt) and a little precarious to be taking out to
communities in Guelph. What if Canadian Tire was willing to donate a BBQ to
this cause?
I contacted Ryan Jones, the manager at Canadian Tire on
Stone Road and took him a copy of my blog so he would know what this was about.
After their management team met, they determined that
they would be able to help out by providing a new full propane tank and a
discounted price on a new 28 burger BBQ! This meant a total savings of approx.
$166 and the problem of a usable BBQ was solved.
 |
| Brian with Herman (on duty manager at time of pickup) from Canadian Tire Stone Road with new BBQ for Guelph Community BBQ's |
Thanks Canadian Tire for believing in communities in Guelph.
Your help is greatly appreciated!
#GuelphCommBBQ
#GuelphCommBBQ
Tuesday, 25 August 2015
Wait a minute ... what is this all about
You may be wondering what I am doing.
Well, it all started like this …
We have some development happening beside us soon; 93 units. We already have approx. 16 new units down the road, about 40 or so up the other way and an additional 200 going up within 1 km of our house. Let’s not forget the 600 students down a little further.
It would be easy to be negative and grumbly about all this happening around us but it occurred to me that we were going to have 5 new communities in our vicinity with approx. 1,000-1,500 or so people.
What kind of community would those be, I wondered. Would they know each other or just pass each other in the parking lot? We have lived in our neighbourhood for 17 years and have not met most of the people in our own neighbourhood. Hmmm … good place to start, right in our own neighbourhood.
What if I were to drop over with my BBQ and a few burgers, light it up and meet some people, also giving them a chance to meet each other? It would take a bit of planning but it might be a fairly simple way of meeting some people. Call it #GuelphCommBBQ
When I experience something I like, I immediately want to invite others along to experience what I have experienced. It seems to be a big part of how I am wired. I am an extrovert and as they say “the more the merrier”. I had 200 of my best friends at my 50th birthday party in our back yard … you get the picture.
I have set up my social media presence with the hope of making connections in Guelph with what is already going on in different neighbourhoods, also becoming more aware of, and involved in what is happening within the wonderful city of Guelph. If you are outside of Guelph, what about your city or town?
Friendship is another big thing for me and I believe it is sadly lacking these days. The simple thing of good old fashioned friendship seems to now be very complex. Does it need to be like that?
I believe that isolation is not a good thing. I believe we were meant to interact with each other and have others involved as part of our “village”.
With that, I plan to try some #GuelphCommBBQ in our 3 immediate areas as a way of connecting and hopefully facilitating some connecting amongst those people as well.
Thanks for your interest.
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