It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Here’s a question for you – How well do you know your neighbors? What got us thinking about this is that Tuesday, August 6, is National Night Out. National Night Out started in 1984 and has been held on the first Tuesday of August every year since.

We remember when National Night Out began by neighbors simply turning on their porch lights and sitting in front of their homes. It has now evolved to promote police-community partnerships and neighbor camaraderie. It can be as simple as a backyard cookout or more elaborate, such as a large neighborhood block party. Some communities have even organized large festivals incorporating food, live music and entertainment.

Our neighborhood celebrates it each year by holding a potluck dinner in a common area of the neighborhood. Everyone brings food to share. Barbeque grills are set up and there’s always plenty of good food and conversation. Some years the police or fire department have stopped by to get better acquainted and address any questions or concerns.

It’s often the only time we have to enjoy a more in-depth conversation with many of our neighbors. Whether they are retired or still working, everyone is busy with their own lives. Each year we say, “We should do this more often.” Then another year goes by without making it happen.

This is unfortunate. A survey by Nextdoor.com found that almost one-third of all homeowners surveyed wished that they knew more people in their neighborhood. Another interesting survey finding was that almost three-quarters of the homeowners, who knew their neighbors, felt confident that their neighbors would do something if they noticed suspicious behavior in the neighborhood. This contributed greatly to the homeowners feeling safer.

Knowing your neighbors better also contributes to a feeling of stability and well-being in the neighborhood. When asked, this is often given as the reason why neighbors say they have no plans to move.

Interestingly, almost 25 percent of neighbors who own pets report that, because they know their neighbors, they received help in finding a lost pet. Nextdoor.com is a site where neighbors can get help to find lost pets, get suggestions for good service people and receive alerts when there’s suspicious activity or something seems amiss in the neighborhood. This can help neighbors show care for each other and feel connected to the larger local community.

We thought it might be interesting to talk to someone in the neighborhood.

We met up with Lorraine Williams, President of the Lake Susan Hills Townhome Association. We asked Lorraine why National Night Out is important and why it’s important to her. She told us, “It’s important because lots of times neighbors feel disconnected.

Especially, in my old neighborhood, once the kids started growing up, people just didn’t get together the way they used to. It was a really nice time to just enjoy a summer evening and catch up with everybody and see what’s going on.”

Lorraine continued, “I think it’s important to know your neighbors. Even here, we don’t have that many households but I’m very encouraged by the number of people who come each year.” We added that we’ve had a wonderful turnout and that’s because of her presidency and the other leaders in the association who encourage people. Lorraine shared, “Thank you, we really try to include everybody. There are still a few people I don’t know. I keep hoping that they’ll come and I’ll get to know them better. I have found there are people here who do all kinds of interesting things, like being authors. It’s really nice!”

With all this talk about neighborhoods, we’re reminded of Mister Rogers, a much-loved television personality on PBS from 1968 to 2001. He wrote, produced and starred in a television program called, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. He would open each episode of his program with a song he wrote called, It’s a Beautiful Day in This Neighborhood. The closing verse of the song says:

“Let’s make the most of this beautiful day
Since we’re together, might as well say,
Would you be my, could you be my,
Won’t you be my neighbor.”

Some thoughts: It’s easy to get caught up in the “busyness” of life and not take time to be with others. What would it be like to contact neighbors that you want to know better and invite them to get together with you? Like Mister Rogers said, “Would you be my, could you be my, won’t you be my neighbor.”

Yes, let’s all be good neighbors and make it a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Chanhassen residents Doug and Lynn Nodland are Success Coaches and owners of The Balance Center. They can be contacted at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2019 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.