Night Out Against Crime Last Night

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jomoncon New Orleans, LA(Zone 9a) Oct 15, 2014

Last night was New Orleans annual Night Out Against Crime. It encourages neighbors to get together and get to know one another and to foster a sense of community. The small block I live on has only 6 lived-in homes, including 1 rental, plus 1 abandoned house and 4 empty lots, one very weed filled. A few weeks ago, I was talking to DH about how empty our little block is and crime is slowly starting to move into the neighborhood. There have been more break ins, robberies and car thefts lately. We really felt the need to know our neighbors a lot better.

Since the Night Out Against Crime was coming up, we decided to try for a pot-luck get-together. Since we were just getting started, we thought that we'd ask only the 6 residences in our block. Just put out some folding tables and chairs in the driveway, have a little food & get to know one another. One neighbor couldn't come cause it was her regular church night; another was out of town on business. But we did have the next-block busy body invite herself and that was nice.

I made up a big pot of dirty rice, someone brought fried chicken, and some really good cup cakes. And of course, a big pitcher of margaritas! The weather was perfect. We all exchanged phone numbers & email addresses and had a good time. Since you have to register your party with the city, we had a couple of uniformed policemen stop by. And they were really informative. They spoke about crime increasing and the things we can do to protect ourselves. Most of it just common sense. Lock your car doors, close & lock your garage doors, put a lock on your gates. Because our block always seems quiet, sometimes one forgets to follow some basic safety precautions.

Anyway, I'm glad we did it. Next year, we'll try inviting the residences on the next blocks and try to get even more participation.

Jo-Ann

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Oct 19, 2014

Good on you and your DH, Jo-Ann. So many folks think keeping an eye on neighbors is an intrusion into their privacy. Television, air-conditioning and internet have insulated us from our neighborhoods.

Y'all have a unique situation with so many homes destroyed and lots cleared post Katrina. It takes good folks looking out for each other to rebuild strong safe neighborhoods. Good food, conversations and pass-a-long plants help make good neighbors.

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Quilter5bdsr (Barb) Manchester, NH(Zone 5a) Oct 20, 2014

Glad t hear your idea turned out so well. Best of luck in the future as well.....

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