To the editor:

After 9/11, a few of us in the Hawley neighborhood got together to talk about preparedness. We decided a neighborhood party would help us get to know each other.

So the following summer we created an event. We named it the Hawleywood Neighborhood Party. My son designed a flyer we distributed which divided the alphabet to designate what food to bring and I engaged a live band. We made a huge foam core sign of the letters and hung it on our ivy-covered fence imitating the real Hollywood.

All this set the precedent for 13 years of joyful gatherings, always with wonderful food, lively music and great conversation.

I have always said I felt this is our family’s contribution to world peace as well as being a lot of fun. I still believe this. If you know your neighbors, I think you will care about them more. Loving our neighbors as ourselves, I believe, is a foundation for community. There are neighborhood gatherings all over Bainbridge and I think these contribute to why this is a wonderful place to live.

At the Hawleywood party, I had a conversation with someone who had grown up in the neighborhood. He said at one point people wouldn’t talk to each other. They thought the neighborhood had a curse. I realized that old thought had been healed through the giving of our neighborhood party.

SUSAN ANDERSON

Bainbridge Island