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.

For more photos of the event go to https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.156767481335296.1073741829.100010061351528&type=1&l=4162132d13 (facebook account not required)

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

 http://bit.ly/1PTXPH5

or

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0D4CA8A72CA5F85-malvern

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.

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

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.