Tempe Neighborhood Potluck

 
 
 

Free event.

Please join us for this fun annual outdoor potluck event at Rotary Park!

Click here to view photos of the park:
https://potluckdinner.org/venues/rotary_park/

What: Simply a traditional neighborhood potluck. No program or presentation.

What to Bring: Guests bring any food item they want to bring, enough to share with 6 to 8 people. Main dish, side dish, salad, bread, dessert, appetizers, etc. Bring food only. Hosts are providing plates, utensils, cups, drinks, etc.

And Bring a Chair or Blanket: Bring portable chair and/or blanket to sit on. We form a large circle on the central lawn and eat and mingle and talk. The hosts are providing serving tables. There are a few picnic tables at the park that attendees may eat at, but most everybody sits on the lawn using folding chairs they bring themselves.

There are always many families with young children at this event. (There is a great playground there.) But traditionally, most of the people who come to this event are single individuals (of all ages!) or couples whose children have grown.

At last year's event, 61 people came. This meant there was a wonderful selection of delicious food, and everybody was able to meet new friends and neighbors.

Here are photos of the event we held last year at the same location:
https://potluckdinner.org/photos/2022Sep23/

Co-sponsored by the Tempe neighborhood potluck group and the Del Rio Ward. This group has organized this neighborhood potluck event at Rotary Park at this time of year for over ten years (only skipping a couple of years due to the pandemic).

Fun Fact: March 24 is National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day! We WILL have chocolate covered raisins there - enough for everybody.

 
 
 

The Tempe Buy Nothing (Northeast) group is hosting a potluck to meet each other and other neighbors in the area. The purpose of the Buy Nothing initiative is to offer community “members a way to give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude through a worldwide network of local gift economies in which the true wealth is the web of connections formed between people who are real-life neighbors.” Meet with your neighbors and learn how to be a part of this initiative.

Tempe Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups/251076665847049/
General Website: http://www.buynothingproject.org/

What should I bring? This is a free event. But guests will bring a dish to share. Enough for 6 to 8 people. Main dish, dessert, salad, side dish, hors d oeuvres, etc. Food only. The hosts will provide plates, utensils, drinks, etc.

What should I wear? Dress up if you want to. But most people will be dressed casually. T-shirt and jeans are fine.

"Give Item" Table This is completely optional! But if you want to, you may bring items to give away. We will have a "Give Item" table you can put things on. And attendees at the event can take items from the table. In keeping with the "Go Nothing" philosophy, all items are given freely. (No sales or bartering allowed.)

Outdoors or Indoors? We will have indoor seating available. But the weather should be excellent for eating outside. We think most people will want to sit outside, where there will be plenty of space and seating for everybody.

Do I need to live in Tempe Northeast area in order to attend this event? No. EVERYONE is welcome to attend this event, regardless of where you live.

NOTE: There will probably be quite a few people at this event. This was scheduled after a discussion on the Buy Nothing Tempe (Northeast) Facebook page. There was considerable interest with many members of the group saying will be coming. Before posting this event on Meetup.com there were already a lot of non-Meetup RSVPs.

 
 
 

SPECIAL GUEST:
Karen Odden, author if this month's book club selection.

SPECIAL FORMAT: We encourage everyone to read the book, but you DO NOT NEED TO READ the book in order to attend.
Everyone will have an opportunity to speak to the author and ask questions, or simply listen to the discussion about Down a Dark River and her work in general.

PRE-MEETING RECEPTION: The meeting will officially begin at 6:30 p.m., but beginning at 6:00 there will be an informal reception with snacks/treats. All guests are welcome to bring snacks/treats/hors d oeuvres (but not required to).

LOCATION:
Tempe Public Library, 3500 S Rural Rd, Tempe, AZ 85282
Ironwood Classroom (main level)

Hosted by Tempe resident bibliophile Tracy Sobers

The Book: Down a Dark River, by Karen Odden. 336 pages.
In the vein of C. S. Harris and Anne Perry, Karen Odden’s mystery introduces Inspector Michael Corravan as he investigates a string of vicious murders that has rocked Victorian London’s upper crust.

What to Bring? You do not need to bring anything. Simply read the book, OR listen to the audio book before attending the meeting. It can be useful if you bring your physical or digital copy of the book.

Who? This is a fun book club event that men and women from the neighborhood potluck list are invited to, along with everybody else who is interested.

Fun Book Club: This will be the seventh meeting of this new book club. We had so much fun at the all of the meetings so far, with wonderful, fascinating discussions with great neighbors and new friends. If you like books or interesting discussions... or simply want to have fun meeting new people, I highly recommend RSVP-ing for this event.
You should be able to check out a physical or digital copy of this book from Tempe-area public libraries. An audio book is also available.

About the book:
London, 1878. One April morning, a small boat bearing a young woman’s corpse floats down the murky waters of the Thames. When the victim is identified as Rose Albert, daughter of a prominent judge, the Scotland Yard director gives the case to Michael Corravan, one of the only Senior Inspectors remaining after a corruption scandal the previous autumn left the division in ruins. Reluctantly, Corravan abandons his ongoing case, a search for the missing wife of a shipping magnate, handing it over to his young colleague, Mr. Stiles.

An Irish former bare-knuckles boxer and dockworker from London’s seedy East End, Corravan has good street sense and an inspector’s knack for digging up clues. But he’s confounded when, a week later, a second woman is found dead in a rowboat, and then a third. The dead women seem to have no connection whatsoever. Meanwhile, Mr. Stiles makes an alarming discovery: the shipping magnate’s missing wife, Mrs. Beckford, may not have fled her house because she was insane, as her husband claims, and Mr. Beckford may not be the successful man of business that he appears to be.

Slowly, it becomes clear that the river murders and the case of Mrs. Beckford may be linked through some terrible act of injustice in the past—for which someone has vowed a brutal vengeance. Now, with the newspapers once again trumpeting the Yard’s failures, Corravan must dredge up the truth—before London devolves into a state of panic and before the killer claims another innocent victim.

 
 
 

Location: East Valley Family YMCA, 1807 S Sunview, Mesa, AZ[masked] a.m. to 12 noon
Thursday, March 30, 2023 and Tuesday, April 4, 2023
(On Thursday, March 30, kindly arrive by 9:45 a.m. to sign in.)

Free event.

What? Mary, a neighbor who you may have met at previous neighborhood potluck events, is inviting you to a fun introduction to the nation's fastest-growing sport: pickleball!

Let's get together and have fun learning and playing pickleball. Limit is six people per training session.

Anyone who attends the first time on Thursday, March 30 or Tuesday, April 4 will get a seven-day free pass for pickleball. This also includes dance classes, yoga, pilates and other classes, plus use of the upstairs weight and exercise equipment.

The Pickleball classes are from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on Tuesday and Thursday.

Silver Sneakers and Renew Active members always receive complimentary admission at the YMCA.

There will be plenty of break and bench time. No running or strenuous movement.

Who? Everybody is welcome, age 18 and up.

What should I bring? Bring water! Paddles and balls are provided. Note that although the neighborhood potluck group is being invited to this event, this is NOT a potluck dinner or meal. Please do not bring food.

What should I wear? Comfortable workout clothes. Indoor sneakers with white soles are required.

NOTE: Space is limited. If available spots have been filled, please RSVP so that you will be on the wait list in case somebody cancels. We will schedule more dates if there is more interest.

First-timers only: We had a lot of fun when Mary taught this introduction to pickleball class last month. If you enjoyed that, then we would love to get together and play pickleball with you in the future, but this particular event is only for first-timers. If you came to the previous "Fun Introduction to Pickleball" class, then you are not eligible to come to this event.

If there are any questions, please post them in comments or message your instructor, Mary.