Downers Grove, IL: Block Party

A tradition in Downers Grove is block parties. Many blocks, once a year, petition the village to have traffic blocked off from their block so that the neighbors can have a party. It is basically a tailgate party without the cars (and traffic jams) and the interruption of having to go to a game. Some blocks rent bouncy houses, etc. Since we live on Main Street, for years we assumed we could not have one. And then some neighbors came up with the idea of using the side street. So we just had our third block party. I don't want to include pictures of kids so a lot of the action such as an egg race, a Pinata smashing, etc. will have to go unrecorded. I will note that kids can still make a mess with eggs even if they are hard boiled.

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When I saw a fire truck arriving, I went back home to get the camera. Soon after I got back the kids were done looking at it, and I could take pictures. It was chilly so we not only had tents, the great organizers rented a space heater. And the grill easily cooked a lot of food.

Speaking of a lot of food, the view at the right is just part of the desert table. Someone brought a very special cake.