Laurel’s goal was to “bring people together with food” and from accounts, they succeeded.

“I am so grateful to the City of Penticton and the Community Foundation for making this event possible. It was a dream come true. The Neighbours all asked that it become an annual thing…we’ll see what we can do to make that happen.”

Invitations were distributed and followed up with a friendly knock to give more info and remind folks to bring chairs and tables. Laurel would “give myself more time to ensure that I had a chance to connect with more neighbours personally.”

On the day, folks came in waves, about 30 people over three hours, “giving more people to connect.” They set up a basketball and hockey net, a toy station with car mats, chalk art, and dress-up costumes. The biggest hit was the banana costume (sorry no photograph).

“The highlights were seeing people gathered around the fire, kids laughing and playing games, and people getting excited about food. One person was vegetarian, and she was So thrilled that all the food was vegetarian. The neighbours shared memories around food and talked about what they used to make in their homes.”