Block Party Update: (updated on June 7, 8:21am)
Some of you have asked if the block party is even going to happen since I’ve been sending out these sky-is-falling messages about fundraising. I’m happy to report that in the end, everyone came through and our fund is now well over the $4K mark. And I still am waiting on several collections. On top of that, we plan to raise a significant chunk of change on the day of the party as well (more on that in a minute). I do apologize if I was overly dramatic and pestering about the fundraising. For whatever it’s worth though, it definitely worked. Every time I sent out one of those guilt-ridden emails, a slew of donations came in. But I’ll try to dial it back a bit next year. That said, if you’ve not made your contribution yet, please still do so, as there is always next year! Scroll down this page for donation information.
The schedule of events:
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FRIDAY by 1pm: Move your car!
All the cars must be cleared from Duddington Place by order of the Capitol Police!! Since this is a permitted party and the police officially close down the street, IT WILL BE TOWED if you don't move it! Especially if you won't be here for the party, make sure you move your car or give your keys to a neighbor so we don't have to tow your car!
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FRIDAY at 1pm: Street Cleaning
This year, we have arragned for the city to bring a street cleaner through on Friday afternoon (which is why it's critical that you move your car before Friday afternoon) and then a 'flusher' will come Saturday morning to wash down the street. If you want to sweep in front of your house, do so before Friday so that you can sweep the debris in the street and let the street cleaner pick it up.
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SATURDAY at 5:30am: Start Pig Roast
For those early risers wanting to see how you go about cooking 150 pounds of swine, c'mon out and laugh at whatever kind of contraption we come up with for cooking the hog. This is an all day event to be held in the middle of the street. The pig will be served in traditional 'pig pickin' fashion at dinner time (i.e., we'll drench it in the secret sauce and you can tear tender meat right off the bone (or for the more civilized, we'll serve it to you if you prefer.)
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8:30-10am: Clean Street and Decorate
Everyone is asked to do what they can to tidy their area in front of their house. Also, we’ll string banners and flags, put up past year T-Shirts, and this year we'll have tiki torches lining the street to help add to the party atmosphere. There will also be a volley ball net set up for any pick-up games during the day. We need lots of hands to help set up this morning, so PLEASE, come out and offer to help. It's actually half the fun since half the block is out there too!
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10-12pm: Pony Rides for the kids
Ponies will carry the kids up and down the street. Bring your cameras and carrots!
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12pm: Fire Trucks come / Hot Dog Lunch
The fire and police department are part of the party tradition. They bring their trucks down, hose down the street, and if we're lucky, they'll open up the hydrant so we can play in the water. We always invite them back for dinner to say thanks.
For anyone interested in a mid-day snack, drop by the pig cooker for some hot dogs!
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1:00pm: Festivities Start
Come to the center of the block to mingle with your neighbors. There will be plenty of beer and soft drinks available, but feel free to bring your own if you're picky. If you prefer to lounge on chairs, we ask that you bring them to the center area and congregate there instead of in front of your house, as it's more conducive to the 'group party' atmosphere.
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1:00pm (and all day long): Games for Kids
Pools, chalk and other activities for kids!
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3:00pm: Margarita Madness!
Our resident bartenders will be serving up a variety of homemade margaritas! If you have a blender you could loan us for the day, please let us know!
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3:00pm: Wine Tasting
We'll have a fine selection of wines on hand for sampling and drinking.
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4:30pm: Say Cheese. Group Picture!
Everyone gather around for a group picture. (There are too many people for us to wait for straglers, so it's up to you to be outside with the group and in formation at 4:30 sharp!) Note that we will make the pictures available online. You'll be able to order any size prints you want. This way we don't need to pose for 40 minutes while someone snaps through 50 individual cameras. (Note, you're encouraged to keep your camera handy all day and snap away at anything that looks interesting. For those with digital cameras, please make sure you get the files to Brent in 135 (brent@taoti.com) so he can post them to the website for everyone to browse and/or order prints.)
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4:45pm: Raffle (immediately following the picture)
This is a new event this year (special thanks to Dick for this one!) Dick has solicited donations (in the form of gift certificates) to over 20 different local establishments. Everything from restaurants to gyms. All day long we’ll be selling tickets ($2 each or 3 for $5). With so many prizes, your odds of winning are pretty good! The proceeds of course go to our block party fund for next year. YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN!
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5:00pm: Dinner Time
As mentioned, we'll be serving the pig for dinner. We'll also be providing hot dogs and hamburgers for everyone. Everyone is asked to bring some sort of side dish (appetizers, deserts, salads, casseroles, etc.) We will set up tables set up in the middle of the street at 5pm to put your stuff on but not before 5, so please don't bring your stuff out early. Please label your dishes with your house number so we know where to return things to if you're not there when we close down (or better yet, come get them before you leave so that someone doesn't have to wash 50 casserole dishes sunday morning and then go around returning things all day). Also, if you are inviting non-residents (which you're highly encouraged to do), please ask them to also contribute something to the dinner so that there is plenty for all.
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7-11pm: Music and Dancing
We'll have our favorite DJ back to start us off with some fun music for the kids and then mix it up a bit for everyone else. Note that our permit officially expires at 10pm, which means from then on out, we need to keep it down a bit.
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10:00-11:00pm: The Great Duddington Parking Spot Race
We need to clear the street of any obstructions, clean up and start to tone things down a bit. You don't have to call it a night, but you need to take the party to the sidewalks or inside and keep it down. The best part is watching everyone scramble to get their cars back on the street as soon as possible. After all, you don't want to have to walk a whole block or two to your car the next day, so the only rational thing to do is try to beat everyone else on the street to get that perfect spot in front of your house!! ;-)
- Sunday, noon: Walk of Shame and Cleanup
If you get up early enough you can see all sorts of interesting people leaving random homes with that "what did I do???" look on their faces. (The best ones are the ones where said people walk out of one house and into another on the same street ;-) But seriously, we NEED people to come out sunday to help clean up. Tables need to go back, kegs need to be returned, garbage needs to be collected, flags need to be taken down, etc., etc. Please don't let this fall to the same handful of people that get stuck with it every year. Do your part. If you partied, it's your responsibility to come out on Sunday and help with the aftermath. The more that help, the less everyone has to do.
Requests:
Before I forget, a couple of requests (as minor as these sound, they’re critical to major features of the party, so please don’t just assume someone else will take care of it):
Blenders. If you’ve got a blender that can crush ice, we’d like to borrow it to make margaritas. Please let me know if you’re willing to lend yours.
Coolers. We’re going to need a lot of ice to keep everything cold. And we’re going to need some coolers to keep the ice cold. If you have one, please let me know.
Grills. We need a grill or two on which to cook hotdogs and hamburgers. Mine weighs 400 pounds and has no wheels, so I’m hoping someone with a wheeled grill could lend it to us for the day. We’ll pay for the propane.
Volunteers. We need help on Saturday morning doing various things. Please just come out and float around to see what you can do.
Some important reminders:
Dinner. Don’t forget to bring a dish for the potluck dinner. Pig, burgers and hotdogs (and veggie burgers) will be provided. But you’re responsible for bringing something else to round out the feast. Please make sure that your guests also bring something so that there is enough for everyone. Don’t forget to write your house number on any dishes or utensils so it gets back to you. My block party dishware collection needs no more contributions!
Cameras. Keep your camera handy throughout the day and snap away. (Unless you’re my mom. Then please, for the love of God, leave your camera at home and let the photography to everyone else.) If you’ll send me your best shots, I’ll post them to the website for people to browse, download, print, or even order prints online. I’ve got some spiffy software that will handle all that for us. Or upload them to your own website of choice and send me the link.
Parking. Please move your cars by Friday night as opposed to Saturday morning. This is because we are trying to get a city street cleaner to come clean the street bright and early Saturday morning. If you wait until Saturday morning, the cleaner may have to go around your car, which defeats the purpose. Friday night is by request. Come Saturday morning, the police will tow your cars whether we ask them to or not since the block is officially closed to traffic. 
Drinking. We’ve got lots of booze at this event. But everyone is reminded that this is a family event and not a frat party. Also, with so much unattended alcohol, it’s up to all of us to police ourselves to make sure minors stay out of it, etc. It only takes one bad experience to ruin this thing for
everyone. So please drink responsibly and make sure that everyone else is doing the same.
Tshirts. T-shirts should be here by June 9th at the latest. I will send out an email when they come in. Just come by my place and get yours. You can also try to find me on Saturday. My place will be like Grand Central Station, so even if I’m not there, pop your head in and someone there can probably point you to the shirts. I’ll have the list of order forms in case you forgot what you ordered. Note that due to the fact that we had so few orders this year, I only ordered 5 extra shirts, and one of them is for our Tshirt collection, so if you didn’t order one and want to purchase one, please get in touch with me with your offer to bribe so I reserve one for you. ;-)
I think that’s about it. If you have any questions, let me know. Hope to see you all on Saturday!
Bonus:
I’ve been sent some pictures from the 1977 and 1971 block parties. I posted them to the website with the rest of our archives: http://duddingtonplace.com/archives.php. Enjoy!
Other information:
Lots more to come! Bookmark this page and come back often!
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Fundraising |
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--$4500
--$4000 (goal)
--$3500
--$3000
--$2500
--$2000
--$1500
--$1000
--$500
--$0 |
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Funds: $4153.93*
as of 6:38 am on 6/7.
*Note:
this includes about $900 carried over from last year's party fund. |
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Donations:
For residents: (including Duddington, 1st, 2nd, E and F Streets) we ask each household to make a minimum contribution of $30. If you're bringing guests, please consider a $10-15 per person additional contribution. In addition to your cash contribution, please don't forget to bring a dish of some sort to the pot luck dinner.
For guests: (including friends, family, coworkers, etc.) we ask each person to contribute ~$15 and also a dish to contribute to our dinner. Every year we get questions like, "Well, I'm only stopping by for 5 minutes--do I still need to pay?" The donation is at your discretion--it's not an entrance fee. We're not keeping tabs on who is paying what. The point here is to simply make sure that we have enough money to pull off this great event each year. If you're just coming to say hi and won't be partaking, then you don't need to give as much. If you plan on camping out here all day and drinking your weight in beer, then consider giving more (after all, where else can you get all this food, drink and entertainment all day long for such a small price?!?) If you want to take up a collection at the office and submit a lump some for the group of you, that's fine too. Again, we're just looking to cover our costs and make sure that we scale the party up proportionally to the number of people that come. Whoever you know on the street is kinda responsible for you. Do them a favor and don't put them in the awkward position of having to ask you for money for a party or having to pony up for you themselves. You can just pay online with your credit card. The link is below. If you reference who your 'host' is in the comments at checkout, I can pass the message along to your host that you've contributed, etc. On a final note, we’d really appreciate it if you donated in advance, as donations give us an indication of how many to plan for. Plus, the costs are incurred prior to the party and it’s not like the block association has a line of credit to borrow against. So please try to get your donations in ASAP. That said, if you’re on the fence or have last minute additions to your party, you’re still welcome. We’ll put a piggy bank out on the day of the party for last-minute donations. Oh…and don't forget to bring a dish for the dinner!
For those of you into statistics, last year we collected a total of $4037. Combined with previous assets we had $4189 on hand and spent about $3524 for the party, leaving us with a balance of $665. We had a total of 68 households contribute for an average donation of $59. The spread on the low end was $3 and on the high end, $400 (yes, someone actually gave $400!) Note that these numbers are a bit skewed because they don't reflect the $487 we collected in the donation jar on the day of the event.
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