With community celebrations of National Night Out scheduled in some 30 Naperville neighborhoods for Tues., August 6, the lyrics to the Sesame Street Song, “The People in Your Neighborhood,” keep running through my mind. After all, National Night out is a chance to get together with “the people that you meet when you’re walking down the street.”
The song goes on to highlight some of the people who help make our neighborhoods. National Night Out will accomplish that as well with local events visited by community helpers from the Police, Public Works, Fire, Public Utilities and other municipal departments and groups.
With July’s sweltering temperatures, there have not been many people walking down the street lately, and that is really a shame. Meeting and getting to know your neighbors is a great way to develop a sense of community. Spending the summer hiding behind locked doors with the air conditioning on, or leaving home in the comfort of a cooled car with the windows rolled up, might meet personal needs, but does not provide the interactions that lead to neighborhood safety, quality of life improvement, and group needs for social interaction and the development of common bonds.
I hope your neighborhood is one that will use National Night Out as a reason to get together and enrich the lives of everyone.
Another way to develop a sense of community is through the Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation. Our member associations, located in neighborhoods across the city and beyond, have banded together to address issues and opportunities running the gamut from political to health to economics to development to recreation. Our goal is to provide a forum to inform and, in some cases, advocate both for our members and the overall community. You can learn more at our website, www.napervillehomeowners.com.
