In addition to meetings, we have tried to have a variety of social events. Some rules of thumb that we've followed:

• Make the event free or at a nominal charge.

• Don't try to do the same thing the same way--except for annual events that are a tradition.

• Don't make all events kid-focused. (Those are the easiest to do and get the best turnout.)

Annual Events

• July 4th Parade & Picnic. This is held on July 4th and has about 500 people attend.

• Neighborhood Day. Our events have included:

• Lyon Village Float built at a block party. We closed off Danville, grilled hot dogs, served lemonade, and built a float for the 1st Neighborhood Day parade. Kids rode on the float which was what turned out the volunteers.

• Neighborhood history display and "Best of Lyon Village" competition at the Lyon Village Community House. Entries included best decorated cakes, best photographs of life in LV, best brownies, etc. Prizes were ribbons. The history presentation was done by our resident Historian, Ditty Boaz and featured pictures and newspaper items from our past.

• Neighborhood-Wide Yard Sale. We have done this twice. We pay for the ad in the Washington Post. Participating addresses are listed in the paper and on a flyer available at the locations.

• Book Exchange. People brought books and took books. Leftovers were donated to the Arlington Library and to groups looking for books for children.

Special Events

• Lyon Village 70th Anniversary. Our largest special event turned out about 2,000 people! We had a parade, food, street theater, bands, and games led by organizations. (We provided the prizes; they kept the money.) Associated events was a history display, house tour, and tee-shirt/sweatshirt design and sale.

• Ice Cream Social and Band Concert (May). One year the W&L Band and Swanson Jazz Band played. Another year several bands from W&L. The band directors from the schools put it on the schedules. We made ice cream sundaes (fresh strawberry and chocolate). Everything was free. We passed the hat for donations and collected hundreds of dollars for the schools.

• Bike registration. This was done in combination with the Ice Cream Social. The registration was led by the police (Heather Hurlock). People brought bikes and registered them prior to the event. We may expand this to a registration and bike rodeo (that teaches bike safety).

• Square Dances. We have done this many times. Fall is the best time. We hire a caller and provide cider and some snacks. (Snacks are provided by people who attend.) No square dancing experience is needed; the caller teaches people what to do.

• Sock Hop. We got a deejay and had a 1950-60s sock hop. Minimal charge, something like $2 to cover the deejay.

• King Kong (16 mm film). Kids sat on the floor with blankets and ate popcorn. The library rented the projector. They had some films. (No sure if this is still available.)

• Game Night. People brought board games and some snacks. We ordered some pizzas.

• Chili Dinner Pot Luck. We provided the chili. People brought side dishes, breads, salads, and desserts to share. Cost was $1 per person.

• Code Enforcement Tour. We asked people to identify problem properties. We provided the list to the Code Inspector and she did a Code Walk. Along the way, other issues were noted. The goal was to understand what was/wasn't a code violation and what steps the County was taking.

• Cookies for Community Cops. This was done in combination with the Holiday Party. We asked for people to make homemade cookies with the goal of providing a plateful to each officer in the 2nd District. About 50 Lyon Village families donated goodies and we delivered 45 plates of homemade cookies to police officers in District 2 as a �thank you� from Lyon Village residents for their community policing efforts.

• Women's Club Events. We provide some funding to the new Women's Club. They have conducted their own events, such as an Easter Egg Hunt, House Tour, and Tea.

Fundraisers

• Annual Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser for the Community House. Tickets are about $7. This includes spaghetti (not all you can eat), garlic bread, salad, and punch. People can have wine too. Most make a donation for this.

• House Tour. We have had 2 house tours. The first was part of our 70th Anniversary and funded purchase/installation of neighborhood signs. The second was conducted by the Women's Club to help fund their efforts.

What has not worked well

• Organizing a bridge group and a wine tasting.

Current plans

• We are preparing bags of candy to welcome the DHS Staff to Clarendon. (This was a controversial move and we are reaching out to make sure we work together well.)

• We will do a welcome event at the Community Police Office in the DHS building (probably food).

• We probably will do some sort of pancake breakfast.

• We will do another Ice Cream Social event.

• We will do a pot luck dinner.

This page was last revised on: November 18, 2004.