Garden Party Highlights: we love our neighbourhood!

For more photos from our Garden Party, please click this link

Saturday morning dawned fresh and bright, and the weather forecast promised a perfect summer's day! Dew sparkled on the leaves and a peaceful serenity cloaked the garden, a beautiful way to start the day. Soon, our volunteers started arriving, chairs were set out, balloons were blown up, delicious treats were laid out on the table under our cherry tree, laughter was heard and we were ready for our "Love your Neighbourhood" Garden Party!

And what a party it was! From 10am, our neighbours, visitors, friends, children and familes started to pour into the garden, and the fun didn't stop until after noon with over 120 wonderful guests enjoying the party! 

John Allan was the first speaker of the day, and he spoke about some inspiring ideas as to how we can get to know each other in our local neighbourhood and build a wonderful community. (If you missed this talk, never fear, we've put some of the links from John's talk below so you can read through them in your own time.) 

Following John, Lisa Truttman regaled us with historical tales of the area that ranged from wild animals and zoos to local doctors and how our surrounding roads were named. While the talks were happening, there was a very happy and excited hubbub from our kid's craft tables outside where children happily painted, glued and created with all manner of fun materials.


After working up a good thirst during the morning of talks, our wonderful guests were then invited to an amazing morning tea provided by our friends and neighbours, Huckleberry Farms! The morning tea was a spread fit for a king, and the setting under our cherry tree was just perfect to enjoy a cup of tea and a selection of fine biscuits, cakes, fruit and herbal teas in a lovely shady spot. We were blown away with the kindness and generosity of Huckleberry Farms, and everyone was blessed with such delicious treats.

To conclude the morning of fun, kids were invited on a garden treasure hunt, while keen gardeners enjoyed a garden tour, guests picked veggies to take home and everyone was urged to take a free seedling home to plant in their garden or in a pot.

Our "Love Your Neighbourhood" garden party was a morning of wonderful fun, personal connection and great community spirit. We would like to thank each and every one of you who came along, who supported us, helped us and who spread the word via Facebook, email and word of mouth. A special thank you goes to our volunteers for all their wonderful help, to our speakers John and Lisa, and to Huckleberry Farms for the delectable morning tea.

We love our neighbourhood and can't wait to see you all again, and to wave to you in the street as we enjoy what a wonderful place we all live in together!

Many thanks to Angelina for all of these beautiful photos!

Further reading for "Love your Neighbourhood" inspiration:
http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk/
www.apw.org.nz
http://cityrepair.org/
http://www.streetcorner.co.nz/