On our block in the Silver Creek subdivision, fellow GNWatch block captains Gus & Ruby and Myrl & Margie joined Eva and I as we invited close to 50 guests in taking time to chat about life on our street, enjoy some complimentary pepperoni pizzas from Pizza Hut, and way more food than an army could have consumed. Our group also tossed in cans and boxed foods to support the San Antonio Food Bank.Once again, great sponsors including Target and HEB really came through for us. Thanks to our GNW NNO coordinator, Betty Hood (who had over 250 people at her block party), the business community in and around our area really supported the efforts. I'll post a full list of sponsors, but we really do need to thank The great folks at several Target stores throughout San Antonio (Target is the official sponsor of NNO and they really, really do go above and beyond to support this effort), HEB for providing all the registered parties in our area with great baked goods from their bakery, Pizza Hut and Domino's, and Sonic.
In addition to loads of great food, we even had treats for the dogs!
Like most of the parties in The GNW, we held drawings to give away the many door prizes like gift cards, free dinners, and other coupons and such.
One of the real hits of our party was a picture spot my wife put together. Yes, this is the long awaited public apology: I told my wife this was a goofy idea, but the neighbors all loved it. A decorated frame hung from a tree that allowed people to pose for pictures. I spent this evening sending out copies of everybodys portraits. I admit it Honey, great idea! How's that?
We didn't want to leave our daughter who is serving in the Air Force in New Jersey out of things, so my wife whipped out the laptop, turned on the Skype and took Roxanne around from person to person to say Howdy! How cool is that?
Throughout the neighborhood, including the GNW Library, and on Pete & Lydia's Cul de Sac, folks had great parties. Our association really does it up for NNO, and this year, we included the idea of asking party visitors to make donations to the San Antonio Food Bank. If you'd like to donate - you still can, just drop off your canned goods at the Lodge of the Great Northwest in the lobby - before Noon Friday. Thanks to all those who helped with this great cause.Other sponsors of door prizes, giveaways, and general financial support include Dave & Busters, Marie Calendars, Olive Garden, Acadiana, Pet Smart, Great Northwest Animal Hospital, Kay's Kutz, City Public Service, Peter Piper Pizza, Jack In the Box, KFC, Mama Margie's, and I know I am missing several, so I will work to get the names and add to them.
All in all, I think the change of weather made for a more comfortable NNO this year, but I do think that the fact that it gets darker sooner contributed to an earlier end to activities this time around. So just as we had cleaned up the food and chairs and tables and such, the staff and board members from the Great Northwest made it by to say howdy. Who are we to turn down guests?How did your NNO party go? Tell me about it. Leave a comment or e-mail me.
I spent 3 hours over at the GNW Library "working" that block party. We had about 4 dozen guests sign our register, and served up all the free bakery goods that Betty Hood had provided from HEB, etc. We had visitors from City Council 6 & 7, plus State Rep Castro's staff, and 2 folks from radio station 106.9 FM who left us lots of goodies to pass out. Didn't see any SAFFE officers, constables, etc. this year.
ReplyDeleteOurs was fun and next year's will be even better! We didn't see any SAFFE officers, constables, etc. either, but that's OK. 9:15 was when we rolled up the sidewalk--and that was plenty late for me! Thanks for all your support, since this was my "first".
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