How the COVID-19 pandemic brought this Centre County neighborhood closer together
Joy Vincent-Killian thought her Overlook Heights neighborhood was tight-knit, but during the pandemic, she realized many families and kids hadn’t even met.
Now, monthly block parties aim to change that.
During the most recent block party on June 20, family members donned name tags while moving kids through stations with crafts, bubbles and cookie decorating. Music was in the air as residents mingled in the closed street, something that wouldn’t have been possible last summer.
The idea came to Vincent-Killian last spring, when she started to prepare and deliver meals for neighborhood families stuck at home during quarantine. It started with just one or two families, she said, but soon she was cooking for more than a dozen families.
As she got to know so many new people in the neighborhood, Vincent-Killian said she realized that there were many residents who didn’t know each other — especially families with kids the same age.
“When summer rolled around, and everybody’s vaccinated, it was like, ‘Oh, my gosh ... you mean your 5-year-old doesn’t know the 5-year-old over here?’“
The block parties were a means to connect residents of all ages, while providing a fun environment for kids with activities like craft tables, cookie decorating, sprinklers and the block party’s newest addition — the Classic Cones ice cream truck. At an activity table, people can also share and request services such as dog sitting, babysitting and lawn mowing.
It’s these connections that create a “phenomenal positive experience,” Vincent-Killian said, which then lends itself to the success of the block parties.
The neighborhood hosted its first block party in May, though the planning started earlier, with permits needed to close down North Hills Place. Vincent-Killian said around 40 families attended the first block party.
This month’s block party was originally scheduled for Saturday, June 19, but because of rain, was held a day later, on Father’s Day.
Jaymie Ramey and husband David have lived in the Overlook Heights neighborhood for seven years. The couple and their two children attended both block parties.
“The pandemic has really turned our neighborhood into a social network for us,” she said, “so we really got to know the neighborhood well over the past year.”
She added that it has been great to get to know new neighbors, and she’s appreciative to Vincent-Killian, who she called the “master connector”
“I appreciate just when neighbors know each other,” David said. “There’s a lot of people moving in and out, so it gives at least people who are here for a year or two some sense of community.”
Lindsey Barber has lived in the neighborhood for two years, with two kids who already love the parties.
“The kids just count down the days until the ‘outside party’ — that’s what they call it,” Barber said. “They get to see everybody, and the ice cream truck is a new addition, so that’s going to be the new favorite thing, I think.”
Barber said she hopes to see the event continue to expand and attract more people from the neighborhood.
For next month’s party, residents chipped in to rent a bounce house.
“I think it’s really good because the little kids need to make connections, not just at school,” Barber said. “And then it gets the parents involved, and I think a lot of the older folks like it, too, because they want to be able to connect with us.”
Vincent-Killian said the neighborhood houses were primarily built in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and the block parties create a way for older residents to connect with younger ones.
By facilitating a venue for communication and connection, Vincent-Killian said older residents are able to see how “this neighborhood now has turned over from first generation owners to second generation owners.”
She added that one of the unique things about the Overlook Heights neighborhood is its diversity in both ages and ethnic backgrounds, in addition to its proximity to Penn State’s campus.
“It’s like a little piece of the world,” Vincent-Killian said.