Block Party

When we bought our first house almost six years ago, we were sorely disappointed to find that our neighborhood lacked much of a neighborly feel. Sure, there were folks there that we came to know and love, but they were certainly the exception rather than the rule. Most folks did not know each other, and kept mostly to themselves. One of our immediate neighbors were originals from twenty-something years ago and told of the early days when there were block parties and the moms would get together during the day for playgroups. Being idealists, we made an early effort to revive this neighborly spirit, but it was to no avail. Language barriers and general disinterest prevented it from ever really getting off the ground. We were eventually forced to move on due to declining property values.

When shopping for this, our second home, we placed a higher emphasis on the neighborhood itself, and not just the home. By now we had learned that even the perfect house was no good if the neighborhood was a loser. In Atlanta, the quality of the local schools is a very important factor for home values, and is a good indicator for the quality of the neighborhoods. The schools are less of a factor here because of the school choice programs, but I developed my own indicator that I call The Starbucks Test. As you can probably tell if you’ve read my previous posts, we are very pleased with our new community. And it keeps getting better.

Today was the Block Party.

It was actually the Clearwater Neighborhoods Day, as part of which the city sponsors block parties in 25 neighborhoods including mine. That tells me that my neighborhood is one of the Top 25 in Clearwater. This is not a high-budget affair, so the financial sponsorship is not significant, but I enjoy living in a community where neighborhoods are a priority. The only expenditures that I observed were the hot dogs, bottled water, and the clowns. Oh, and the fire trucks.

There were actually several folks from the city on hand, but the fire fighters were definitely the coolest. There was a regular pumper truck and a fire rescue vehicle (which is basically an ambulance). Unlike the Touch the Trucks event, there were no garbage trucks to distract my boys and they went over every inch of those fire trucks. Every compartment was opened, every tool was examined, and every operation was explained.

They showed us their map book they use to navigate to a fire. The book is maintained by the city (digital GPS maps are not accurate enough) and shows the location of houses and fire hydrants. If a hydrant can’t be located nearby, they do carry a strainer, but the hydrant is preferable because their 1,500 gpm pumps will empty the typical swimming pool in under 10 minutes.

They showed us the infrared/thermal camera that they use to “see” in a smoke-filled building. They say it is real easy to spot a human body in a burning building because it shows up on the camera as a cool spot. I had a mind to do some experimentation with the camera, but was under close spousal supervision and had to refrain.

They showed us a variety of axes, bolt cutters, sledgehammers, shovels, brooms and other tools that are stowed away in various locations on the truck. One boy who fell and skinned his chin in the street was the envy of the other kids when he got a band-aid from the fire truck’s first aid kit.

One of the firefighters even suited up in full regalia, including mask and helmet. He got down on his knees and let the children approach him. They were intimidated at first by the mask and the sound of the oxygen, but eventually got over it and closed in to rummage his pockets (Aaron found a screwdriver). I’ve seen this evangelism to children a few times now but continue to marvel at the perceptiveness of the strategy. The police and firefighters go out of their way to be recognized by children as friends. The police obviously want to preempt the adversarial role that they are often placed in by the teenage years, and both hope to reduce the tendency for small children to hide from them in a dangerous situation.

Needless to say, the block party was a big hit. I felt very much the first-timer when I observed the other dads and their plastic cups, but I’m a quick learner and I’ll have mine next year.