Some may say that this summer had a slow start. Blame it on the early cold weather. But we here at Milwaukee's Kops Park, just blocks east of the Menomonee River Parkway, have built something very special with each new event. Together, we've threaded a patchwork quilt of neighborhood WARMTH. That only comes with turning off the tube, "x"-ing out of the games and websites (all except ours here at Beautiful Savior, of course!) and heading for the great outdoors. Sure, it's a neighborhood park, our Kops Park. But we can ALL agree that this summer, we as a cooperating neighborhood have voluntarily made Kops a GREAT park with a great reason for going outdoors!

So often we tense up when asked to spare a volunteer hour or two here and there. Look and review all the photo galleries on our Beautiful Savior church website or Facebook page. We can all realize that when we squeezed a helpful hour or two into our daily ratrace, we wove the threads of n-e-i-g-h-b-o-r-h-o-o-d into some very neat time shared. Sure, we're all different, but many of us like to do the same things; doing them within walking distance gives us such a breath of fresh air, doesn't it? 

Thanks and thanks again go out to Kevin Hinckley and Janese Baket, plus the many Kops Park Neighborhood Association leaders and friends who stepped up to make every single attempt this summer bigger and better than the last! Let's keep it going. Let's work with the beauty of fall and keep our community warm and vibrant in the coming weeks.

Keep an eye out for what's coming next, but that'll keep for another day. Today, I'm just enjoying the memories of helping out with these just-plain-fun events:

~Auer Garden & Kops Neighborhood Cleanup

~Beautiful Savior Easter Egg Hunt

~Kops Park Patriotic Parade

~Monthly reading and craft and other kids' activities

~Beautiful Savior Vacation Bible Camp (See ya next year!)

~AWE artists (Terrific job on the pavilion!)

~National Night Out

~Kops Park Doggie Dip