The Matthews Beach/Meadowbrook community was very excited to celebrate at Night Out again!  Being able to see and talk to neighbors was the clear priority for everyone, in the spirit of Night Out, we still worked on sharing information about safety, community engagement and emergency preparedness.

Our community benefits by knowing they have this event that brings neighbors out and they recognize the opportunity to reacquaint themselves and catch up. By gathering together conversations are started and friendships develop. Knowing is growing.

Night Out 2024 featured three grills, providing separation for different food requirements.  We announced on the invitations that we were providing basic BBQ staples as a part of our grant, such as hot dogs, beef burgers, veggie burgers, grilled vegetables, still and sparkling waters, and freshly squeezed lemonade, while encouraging neighbors to bring dishes to share potluck style.  The neighbors did not disappoint!  Fruits, various salads, cooked and raw vegetables, noodle dishes, and several desserts covered the 15 feet of tables that were set up for that.  It was diverse and delicious. The pies went fast!!!

A comment: Several of our neighbors told us that they appreciated our ready food and that it relieved the pressure of bringing something that others may not like. I think this might have been a bit of food insecurity.

We provided covered dining areas with tables and chairs that 40-50 people could eat at a given time. As you can see from our pictures, this was very popular.

We had a table set up with information about Emergency Hubs, explaining what they are and where they are locally.  The King County Office of Emergency Preparedness provided us with 50 zip-lock like bags, which featured a list of important documents for an emergency preparedness kit on it and stuffed with some related documentation.  They went fast!

Once again, the neighborhood kids were great. Many of them mentioned that they looked forward to this event as a time they could “play in the street”.  A cornhole set was set up, and quite a few people had fun with it, but we had no idea of what the official rules were.  There was lots of chalk for drawing on the street, and a colorful chalk path was created trailing down Alton Ave.

Our signed in attendees numbered 55, but 20-25% of people didn’t sign in, and depending on who you asked, the unofficial attendance was between 75 and 100.  We also enjoyed a few attendees that were simply walking/biking through and decided to stop in and enjoy the crowd

This was a great Night Out, and we thank the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods for its support through the Neighborhood Matching Fund

Here are some photos of the event.