A number of years ago at our Meeting, we started a new "tradition"–to bend the definition of the word a tad, in which someone agrees to host a Friday Night Cookout for Members, Attenders, and friends of Meeting, and we all show up! Well, not all of us, necessarily, but anyone who wants to. It was originally seen, and still is as something to do after a tough week of work and a kickoff to a fun weekend, with a bunch of people you know and love.

Our Friday Night Cookouts are potluck, in that everyone can bring something to share or bring their own things to cook on a grill as well as their beverages of choice. The host provides the grill, places to sit outside (or possibly inside if the weather doesn’t cooperate), maybe condiments, eating utensils, napkins and such. Participants often bring extra chairs.

These cookouts are very informal. Participants often get home from work on Friday night and decide they want to go that very evening on the spot, so they throw everyone in the car, gently–we are Friends after all, and stop and get a pizza or two on your way to the party. RSVPs are not required, although they’re helpful for the host, and kids are not just welcome, they’re encouraged to come. It’s also a chance for the host to invite friends and neighbors, particularly if any of them have expressed some curiosity about where the host does every Sunday Morning and what those Meetings are that he or she is always raving about!

So now all that’s left is for folks to step up to host. While some hosts offer a flexible structure where just about anything goes, others sometimes plan their cookout around a theme. The bottom line is that everyone has fun and let’s their hair down with Friends/friends. And one of the best things about hosting is that it forces people to get things accomplished that they’ve been putting off.

DATES AND LOCATION OF UPCOMING COOKOUTS:

June 26 -- Chester Springs (Croquet theme)
Jul 10 - Marsh Creek State Park, Eagle
July 24 - Downingtown
August 7 - Malvern

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