To the editor:

On Sunday, we joined a group of about 30 for the second annual Park Hill neighborhood picnic. We came away feeling a new sense of pleasure in being part of this community. In the brief span of two hours we met neighbors we had never seen before, learned about their lives and work, shared common interests, found out about some of the history of our neighborhood, its features, parks and even residents who were unable to be there.

Topics of conversation ranged from the most local to stories by a young lady recently returned from a Peace Corps sojourn in El Salvador. And while we caught up on the news of children who grew up with ours, other children played on the swings and slides and in a neighbor’s wading pool. It could not have been more fun.

We want to thank those who took the first steps to organize our neighborhood association two years ago. For a neighborhood with almost no crime and few issues to lay at the city’s door, our association has other benefits. Not the least is getting to know one another. What a pleasure!

Paul and Pat Fairchild,

Lawrence