Cathy Miller’s People Pic of the Week is all about CommUNITY!

On May 18, 2017, two families in the Youmans Avenue community were affected by a fire that displaced them for a year.

Having experienced the devastation of fire twice in her life, Ateena Smith, a three-year resident of Youmans Avenue, felt compelled to do something to welcome the families back to the neighborhood when they arrived home in June 2018 – back to the home in which two generations grew up.

With help from Borough Manager Matthew Hall and Town Council, Ateena drew up a petition for Youmans Avenue residents to sign and drafted a letter for Town Council to approve a Block Party on June 23.

There were a few bumps in the road to success: the newly-returned families were nowhere near settled in, Ateena’s husband injured his back, and Mother Nature was threatening rain. Ateena was compelled to reschedule the Block Party.

August 4 was quickly approved, allowing six more weeks for planning. Ateena enlisted the help of her good friend Laurie Koziol, a four-year resident of Youmans Avenue, and between the two women, were able to secure food donations, business donations, and some financial donations.

Local businesses who generously contributed were: Warren County Liquors (ice), Muheisen’s Deli and Bakery, Dunkin Donuts, DJ Josh Lafargue (of Washington Borough), VonThun Farms, Dairy Queen, Taylor Rental, Serendipity, Empanada Mamasita, Arctic Foods and the Plant Farm. An anonymous donor paid for the official “Youmans Ave Block Party” t-shirts.

Attendees were asked to bring a side to share and a meat to grill. A long banquet table was chock full of salads, corn on the cob, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, snacks, sweets, and so much more. The grill masters were Joe Smith (Ateena’s husband), Paul Koziol (Laurie’s husband) and Rich Howey, all of whom kept the multiple barbecues smoking and sizzling throughout the day.

There were plenty of kids’ activities – from a visit by a Borough fire truck to crafts, necklaces/bracelets, activity booklets, balloon animals, bowling, bubbles, basketball, and T-ball (borrowed from the girls’ softball coach). A hugely popular activity was face-painting, artfully applied by Cassi Smith, Ateena’s 14-year old daughter. A couple competitions were planned for later in the evening – a hula hooping contest for kids and a musical chairs/scavenger hunt for the adults.

With a large percentage of Youmans Avenue residents out-and-about and getting to know each other, the neighborhood kids all playing together, lots of laughter and picnic fare to share, this was a perfect slice of summer life in the Borough.

To quote organizer Ateena Smith, “I really hope this catches on and more streets do this. These are your neighbors and it takes a village to raise a child. I know that my son can ride his bike to the end of the street. I know that I can have my kids walk my dog. I know that if I am not home and my neighbors see something they will say something. That is where I want to live. This is what I call commUNITY!”

Pictured in photo: Laurie Koziol (left) and Ateena Smith (right).

Cathy Miller, an award-winning photographer who has been capturing the faces of Warren County for many years, has had her work appear in numerous publications, local, statewide, and beyond.