Two years ago, their alley was a punch line because of its unsightly appearance, which was compared to the conditions of a Third-World country or a new Land O’ Lakes. This past weekend, it was the site of a raucous party, celebrating its smoothness.
The alley — sandwiched between the 1000 blocks of South Kenilworth and Grove — had been eroding for decades. It was first slated for a fix-up in the summer 2009, but that was scrapped because the village faced budget problems.
So residents started lobbying village hall, showing up at meetings and writing tongue-in-cheek letters to Wednesday Journal, begging officials to smooth things over.
“Recent rains revealed the fact that our alley has more lakes than the state of Minnesota. We have stocked these little lakes and are now offering half- and full-day passes to anglers, also for a nominal fee,” Elaine Johnson wrote in June 2009.
Oak Park finally got around to repaving the alley in the summer of 2010. During the long wait, residents bonded over the shoddy condition of the pavement, according to Phyllis Gunning, who has lived on the block for 10 years.
She sent out an email last week, asking neighbors on Kenilworth and Grove to congregate out back to celebrate their new alley. Festivities included munching on hors d’oeuvres, sharing old alley war stories and photos, and a garage sale advertised as “Smooth Ride … Sweet Deals.”
“We thought, we’ve got this brand new alley. We should break it in,” Gunning said. “I just shot out an email, and we had a lot of interest, and people just figured we’d have an informal get-together and hang out.”
Some were newcomers to the block who didn’t get to experience the “Third-World” conditions, while others had been driving it for decades. Neighbors also got a chance to bond even further back in February, digging each other out from the massive blizzard. Saturday was a chance to reunite, Gunning said.
Johnson, 68, who has lived on the block since 1985, hopes the alley party will become a summer tradition. While it angered her to suffer for years with a beat-up back road, she relished the chance to meet neighbors who have lived down the alley for years.
“It was really nice to make some connections with people who live so close, but who you never talk to because you’re always coming and going in the alley,” she said.