CRYSTAL LAKE—Neither a light sprinkle nor a pouring downpour dampened the spirits and camaraderie of the inaugural block party at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish here Aug. 27.
Parishioners and neighbors mingled in the large parking lot filled with games for the kids, s’mores, food trucks and beverages.
A stage covered for protection was in-waiting for the evening’s entertainment with live music from Ike Ndolo and Ennie Hickman, two nationally known Catholic musicians. Their appearance was part of their national “Love Your Neighbor Tour.”
As the gentle rain arrived, the umbrellas went up and a long but speedy line gathered at the Knights of Columbus truck to purchase freshly grilled brats.
There was a sign of hope when a rainbow appeared in the sky, but it was a short-lived respite before everyone rushed for cover.
“The devil is working hard to spoil our fun,” said Allyson Svigelj, promotions and media coordinator at the parish, “but we will prevail.”
And they did.
A crowd of more than 300 people jammed the parish center to create abundant joyful noise.
Lisa Kendzior and JoEllen Gregus, committee co-chairs of the event, switched to “plan B” and everything that could, speedily came inside. Nobody seemed to mind.
Ndolo and Hickman started their performance right on time and Ndolo’s first song was “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”
The entire premise of the parish block party evolved after Kendzior of the junior high Youth Ministry at the parish, heard the singers.
Kedzior explained, “Ennie had said that his Love Your Neighbor Tour became reality when his son said, ‘Dad, can we go to meet our neighbors? If we don’t know our neighbors, how can we love them?’
“It made us think,” Kendzior continued. “If St. Thomas the Apostle Church wasn’t here — would anyone miss us? This was a calling card for us to ... invite our neighbors to our own block party.”
Parish member volunteers armed with yard signs, door hangers, and postcards personally went door-to-door to invite parish neighbors to the party.
Gregus said it was a lot of fun to meet people.
“At first you could see a hesitation,” she said, “but when they heard we were inviting them to a party, they would flash a smile and say ‘OH!’ ”
Gregus also noticed quite a few neighbors as she glanced around the crowd.
Kate Dolan, an active member of the parish who volunteered at the party, said she couldn’t believe all of the activity.
“We are blessed. This is a wonderful event and we’ve just got to do this again next year.”
The weather didn’t stop the kids from having a good time either.
“This is great,” said young Andrew Hay. “The slide is super fast when it’s wet.”