Southwest Highland Park Neighbors Come Together

The information below comes from SWHP.

On Sunday, September 9, about 150 Southwest Highland Park (SWHP) neighbors gathered in the area’s Park District of Highland Park, Woodridge Park at 150 Barberry Road for the First Annual Southwest Highland Park ‘Picnic in the Park.’

The casual picnic is part of an on-going grass root effort to foster a tight-knit sense of community. The idea of the picnic began with lifetime SWHP resident, Samantha Stolberg.

"I kept hearing from neighbors about the need to come together and encourage community. This seemed like an easy way to help the effort along,” Stolberg said.

Residents enjoyed an afternoon filled with conversation, connecting with new and old friends, children playing on the new playground equipment, tennis, basketball and a potluck dessert table. Flyers, phone calls, emails and the neighborhood Facebook page, managed by Stolberg and 15-year neighborhood resident Alyssa Knobel, informed SWHP residents about the picnic.

"Our Facebook page has become an effective way to communicate with each other about events, emergencies, general neighborhood news and also put the nearby Crossroads and Briergate businesses in touch with their resident neighbors,” explained Knobel.  She added “It is another way to bring the neighborhood together.” 

The SWHP Facebook page is open for posts relevant to SWHP. Any residents or business member of the group may post. Along with resident and government posts, Crossroads Car Wash, Craftwood, Blue Grass Restaurant and Mizrahi Grill have taken advantage of the page to promote specials and events.

Stolberg added, "We're just trying to get back to that old-school concept of a neighborhood.  A real sense of community; a sense of belonging." Stolberg and Knobel encourage SWHP residents and businesses to get involved, join and post on the Facebook Group at http://www.facebook.com/SouthwestHP.

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