For the last seven years, we have had a Thanksgiving Block Party on our street.  One family, The Vogels, have hosted this event for our block each year.  It has become a tradition for many of us and seems to be growing in popularity each year with more and more friends & family attending.  As it should!  What better way to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday than to share the responsibilities of preparing a meal with the people you see every day, your friends and neighbors!

The block party alleviates the stress of making an entire Thanksgiving meal for your family.  Much like a pot luck, families are assigned a dish (or two) to bring to the party.  Guests of the families are asked to bring desserts.  Each family provides enough food for the entire group as well as their own utensils (plates, silver ware, cups, etc.) and their beverage of choice.  It makes for an enjoyable event for all.

As the host family, you will be responsible for ordering (or providing) the tables, chairs and table cloths.  On our block, the Vogels live at the end of our cul-de-sac so we always set-up right outside their house.  They also make  their garage accessible for desserts and coffee that are generally set out later, after the meal. 

Here's a step by step list to start your own Thanksgiving Block Party.

1. The host family (usually the wife or mom but not limited to) starts the ball rolling by generating an interest letter.  You can decide how far and wide you want to distribute the letter.  Perhaps you are friendly with the entire neighborhood (lucky you!), or you have families on other blocks you'd like to include.  There are no set rules and it doesn't just have to be your block. In the letter be sure to include your name, phone number and maybe even the location of your house so your neighbors know who you are.  Maybe they've seen you around but never knew you lived at the end of State Street in the blue and white house.  Be sure to tell your neighbors their friends and family are also welcome.  The more the merrier (and better chance of yummy desserts)!

2. Once the letter has been distributed you'll start to receive calls from your neighbors informing you of their interest or their inability to attend.  This is essential to establish your head count for the table and chairs as well as later determining how many dishes need to be assigned.

 3. About a week or so prior to Thanksgiving you will need to contact the neighbors who said they were interested in attending the block party.  First make sure they are still in fact interested and if they are, you can discuss what dish or dishes they would like to bring.  Be open to them bringing something different or new.  Perhaps a specialty they'd like to share but of course try to make it a balanced menu as well with most of the traditions like turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, etc.  When discussing the dish(es), make sure they understand that they need to provide enough for everyone attending.  Perhaps they can split a dish with another family to alleviate a large quantity.  For example this year, my family and our friends down the street both made mashed potatoes so neither one of us had to make enough to feed a small army.  It worked out well because she made garlic and I made regular.

4. Place the order for the table and chairs well in advance (or when you have a close estimate of attendees) so they are reserved in time for Thanksgiving.  Have them delivered the day before and store them in your garage.

5. On Thanksgiving, start setting up 45 minutes to an hour before the designated meal time to enable your neighbors to bring out their dishes when they are ready and grab the seats they want.  Once you start setting up, the other neighbors will join in making the whole event a group effort. 

6. If you can, try to assemble all the guests for a group photo!  It is so fun to look back years later to see who attended that year and how much everyone has changed, especially the kids!

I hope that you are able to host your neighborhood Thanksgiving Block Party next year!  It truly is a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday and eliminate a lot of the stress involved in cooking, cleaning and missing out on visiting with friends and family while you prepare the meal or clean up.  The kids love it too as they can run around the street and play with their friends well into the night! It's also a great way to get to know your new neighbors or meet your friend's grandmother who is 90 years old. 

We've been lucky every year so far.  We been blessed with great weather every time with it only raining in the morning on Thanksgiving once.  Now granted we do live in sunny Southern California and everyone knows it never rains in LA but you can make it work too.  Perhaps you can rent heaters and run extension cords from nearby houses.  Or host the party in your car port, garage or even basement.  Just because it's a "block party" doesn't necessarily mean it has to take place in the street!

Many blessings to you, your family and friends.  I hope you see yourself at your block party next Thanksgiving!  Be well and loved.