Third Annual Oakley Drive Block Party - August 19th, 2006

Another Block Party came and went and I think with every year we are learning how to make it a little better each time. I think a fun time was had by all. The slip and slide was a huge hit with the kids, as was the dunk tank. Maybe this year we’ll get some adults in the dunk tank! Can you think of a neighbor you might want to dunk? The DJ was a lot of fun but not everyone was up there dancing. Let’s think of some fun things we can do to get the whole block up and dancing, Conga line anyone? And, let’s not forget our 50/50 raffle winner, Marion Wurtz! Congrats on the big prize!

Spring is here and I want to start concentrating on this year’s party. If we plan it early, we can make sure no one is on vacation and we can save up for a great party. If you can think of anything different that you’d want to see at this years party, just let me know and we’ll see if we can afford it. Also, I had some great volunteers last year, Patty Bird, Tammy Donahue, Dee Hoole, Beth Butcher and Aileen Clemente, Thank you!. If we can get some great volunteers again for this year, we can have another really successful party. I want to get the petition completed by the end of May as well as all of the money collected. That way we have plenty of time to plan what we want to do and book it early. In keeping with the "tradition" the party will be on the third Saturday of August, the 19th.

Since there seems to be a lack of interest from most of the houses east of Longley, we are going to close the street at Longley this year. The problem is that if there is no one around, cars think they can move the barricades and drive down the street. We had a big problem with that last year. Once the blockades are up, unless it’s really necessary and it is a resident of Oakley or an emergency vehicle, for safety purposes, we cannot have ANYONE driving down the street. This includes deliveries. If you need to have something brought in, please have it done before 2pm. There are too many children in the streets to allow people to drive down the street once it is closed. As for the families that want to participate on the other side of the blockades, let me know who you are and we’ll get tables and chairs set up down by the houses partying so you can join the fun. We’ll help you bring down your coolers and stuff and we can share grills with the partying houses. After all, this is a party to bring the neighborhood together, what better way than to get together and share. Maybe we can do something like buddy up families and we can split the food and other dishes. Whatever you think would work to get the party going.

One suggestion we got this year is to set up an auction and everyone contributes a basket, gift certificate, etc., to be sold at the party. We would set up a table with all of the items and auction them off. The proceeds go towards the party for next year. If you are crafty, you can make something. If you own a business and can contribute something that people would want to buy, you can do that. It’s an idea that can be worked on so let me know what you think. As far as contributions go, we already have $115 saved from the raffle last year. If we keep the contributions at $50 per house again, we should be able to have a really good time with the events and DJ. We don’t want to break the bank for anyone so the easiest way we can have a couple of fun things to do and cost the littlest amount of money, the better off we are. I know some of you are concerned that last year we asked for $10 and then this year was $50, you are worried about the cost rising every year. We are not going to keep raising the price. I think now we are going to look at other ways to raise money for the party to keep the cost down for us.

Don’t know what a "BLOCK PARTY" is? Well, we block off the street from the ends and the side streets and the kids can run around through the street and play. Everyone sets up tables and chairs in the streets and BBQ. We have events for the kids like the dunk tank and the slip and slide and last year we added a DJ to get people up and dancing. It’s just a great way to meet your neighbors and have some fun. If you still aren’t sure what to do or have any other questions, just give me a call or drop me an e-mail. I would like to collect e-mail addresses to help get the info across quickly and cheaply. send me your e-mail address and I will add you to the block party list for updates and announcements about the party. This is such an easy way to get information across and I promise not to give your address to anyone else or contact you for anything other than the party.

Call me if you have any questions. 631/424-5112 or oakleyblockparty@verizon.net or http://oakleydriveblockparty.blogspot.com I set up a website for us! Check it out!