40th Annual Duddington Block Party!
The 2008 Group Photo
The 40th annual Duddington Block Party June 13 (rain or shine) is rapidly approaching. The day officially starts around 10am when the ponies show up (though please come out early and help us decorate and clean the street) and officially ends at 11pm when the DJ has to pull the plug. Make sure your calendars are marked so that you don’t miss out on the festivities:
- Pony rides for the kids (10 – noon)
- Fire trucks with an open hydrant at about 11:30 (if we’re lucky)
- Police on horses
- Hot dog/burger lunch
- Games for kids of all ages (2-4ish)
- Hog roast (once again featuring the PigKiln 3000!) – we hope to avoid the fire this year…
- Potluck dinner (beginning around 6ish; we provide burgers, dogs and the pig; you provide the rest!)
- Featured T-Shirts (the design this year will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the block party)
- The traditional group picture (4pm SHARP!!!)
- Live DJ with dancing
Donations and T-Shirts
Each household is asked to contribute at least $30. And this part is important: your guests should also contribute $15 each. Where else can you get all of the above for $15?? It’s a steal, so please make sure your guests pony up so that we can afford to do this each year. You can make payment online with your credit card using the “Make a Donation” link on the upper right-hand side of this page. Or, please drop off a check (payable to Duddington Block Association) or cash to Michelle at 119 Duddington (Michelle is the treasurer of the association). Make sure you indicate who you are and how many guests you expect. Donations determine whether or not we can do all of the above activities, so please get you donations in by May 31 to give the block party organizers enough time to make the required adjustments based on our budget. The block association is not buying alcohol this year because of DC permit requirements and restrictions.
40th Anniversary T-Shirts
T-Shirt order forms have already been distributed. If you’d like to buy a T-shirt you can include your T-Shirt order and donation together. The cost of the T-shirts are $18. Please contact Sue Carlton (126) for extra T-shirt order forms.
Volunteering
On the day of the party, we need lots of help: cleaning, setting up, decorating, manning the grills, setting up tables and tents, etc. I promise you half the fun is just coming out and being around all your neighbors. Come out early (the pig goes on at 6am, which is usually when things start ramping up), so come out early, lend a hand and meet your neighbors! There is no signup list. If you see a job that needs to be filled, fill, or just ask someone what you can do. Most importantly, please do your fair share and show up Sunday morning (10am) to help us clean up the street. It only takes about half an hour if people pitch in.
Potluck Dinner
Each household is asked to also contribute something to our potluck dinner. You need to make enough for you and 10 additional people! Our potluck has been short-lived in past years because there hasn’t been enough food. So it’s important to tell your guests to bring something to contribute, too!
Guests
There has been some concern that our block party may be getting to be a bit more than just a block party. Friends and family of all residents are more than welcome, but you should probably draw the line there. You can point your guests to our website where they can find information about the block party.
Parking
The City will be bringing street cleaners on Friday night (June 12th), but they won’t be able to clean the streets if there are cars in the way. As the street is officially closed down for this event, all cars must be moved by Friday at 5pm or they will be towed by order of the police. We don’t want to tow anyone’s car, so please don’t forget to move your car.
So that you are not blind-sided during the coming weeks, David will be coming by everyone’s house (if he hasn’t already) to update the Duddington Place Directory, where he will ask for names and contact information. This information will be distributed to everyone so that we can help each other out if there is ever a problem on the street.
-If you have any questions, feel free to contact Jon, Jon and Josh at 134 or just email us at duddingtonplace@gmail.com
Duddington Place Block Association 