Darlene Kroll gets to know neighbors through ice cream

When Darlene Kroll wanted to get to know her neighbors, she thought what better way to get acquainted than to invite all of them to her home to share ice cream on a warm summer evening.

On July 24, Kroll and her neighbors gathered at her home for the 11th ice cream block party.

Kroll said the idea occurred to her when she and her husband lived on Perkins Street, but she knew she had to go through with her plans when they moved to the A Street loop and their home came with a good-sized deck.

“It’s a suitable setting,” Kroll said. “We eat dinner out there on the deck every night.”

“I felt God told me to do it,” Kroll said. “It’s a funny little street because we don’t face each other.”

Each year Kroll sends out invitations to 42 neighbors, and she has had from 19 to 36 neighbors show up for the ice cream block party.

This year 30 neighbors and friends showed up for ice cream, and the neighbors presented Kroll with a special ice cream scoop.

“It’s the concept of community,” she said. “It’s just a chance to get to know people. It’s a concept of a feeling of our neighborhood.”

Kroll said she walks a lot and wanted reassurance that if she was ever in trouble, she could knock on a neighbor’s door to get help.

Not everyone in the neighborhood has accepted Kroll’s invitations, but she said she would be pleased if even one person shows up.

The Krolls purchase about six half-gallons of ice cream and take orders for everything from banana splits and sundaes to ice cream cones, whatever a neighbor wants. Most popular are the banana splits, Kroll said.

Every neighbor wears a name tag so they can become acquainted with one another.

“At least when you see these people, you know who they are,” she said. “It’s not really that hard.”

From year to year, Kroll said she keeps notes about the gatherings.

“It’s a concept of looking out for each other,” Kroll said.

“I was very surprised,” she said. “It went very well.”