The state of Missouri celebrated Good Neighbor Week from Sept. 28 until Oct. 4. Never to be outdone – the Woodland Heights neighborhood celebrated our own version of Good Neighbor Week one week prior!
That is, due to scheduling conflicts experienced by some of our neighborhood leaders, and the desire to include those folks as part of our neighborhood celebration, Woodland Heights held our Good Neighbor Week festivities from Sept. 19-23. Thanks to the hard work of this event’s primary organizer, Natalie Batchelor, historic Lafayette Park was home to five events for five consecutive nights!
The celebration began Sept. 19 with Race Car Night Lafayette Park was transformed into a mini race track for eager children and remote-controlled cars. This was followed Sept. 20 by “Play in the Park Night,” which consisted of children and adults donning their finest (or gaudiest) costumes and just enjoying the absurdity of playing in the park together. Sept. 21 may have been the calmest night. This evening consisted of lantern-making workshop where adults helped children craft artistic lanterns for use at the SGF Yields Lantern Walk. Sept. 22 turned into an epic adventure as Lafayette Park was flooded with knights and swordplay for Medieval Night. And, as if our volunteers weren’t already exhausted enough(!) Saturday, Sept. 23 ended the weeklong celebration with our annual Neighborhood Night Out. There was music, dancing, food and the requisite bouncy house. And there were, of course, countless neighbors enjoying each other’s company.
The five nights of Woodland Heights’ Good Neighbor Week brought our community closer together by encouraging wonder and playfulness.
