New Neighbor Socials
In September, we hosted our first New Neighbor Social. Over 40 new neighbors (including adults, teens and kids) joined us for dinner at Blakely Hall to meet fellow Issaquah Highlands residents and learn about our community.
Prior to the pandemic, Highlands Council partnered with the IHCA and HFN to host new resident orientations twice a year for new homeowners. These have now evolved into a more casual New Neighbor Social, welcoming all new residents—homeowners and renters alike.
Our next New Neighbor Social will be a breakfast on Nov. 23.
New residents gathered over dinner at Blakely Hall during our first New Neighbor Social on Friday, Sept. 13.
A Sneak Peak at 2025
I feel like a kid in a candy shop when I think about what’s coming for Issaquah Highlands in 2025! A significant change is expanding Connections from the familiar newspaper format into a fabulous new glossy magazine called Community Connect. Read more about the change in my latest Ask Me Anything column.
The Highlands Council team, along with our programming committee and event volunteers, have been hard at work planning a wide range of events, initiatives and workshops for 2025. We’ll continue to offer some community favorites like the Big Game Watch Party, Village Market Pop-Ups, Issaquah Highlands LEGO™ Expo (heads up—it’s moving to March this year), Spring into Fitness, Global Grub & Groove and Candidate Forums.
Join us as we recognize local artists in our gallery at Blakely Hall with receptions throughout the year, including the Nowruz Celebration and Bazaar on March 9. We’re also looking forward to introducing some new programs watch for quarterly swaps (clothing, games, equipment, etc.), Bob Ross Paint Night, Speed Puzzling, Singo and more! And of course, mark your calendar for our much-anticipated Movie on the Green, rescheduled for July 11, 2025. Start the anti-rain dance now!
If you have ideas for programs you’d like to see offered, or if you want to help bring them to the community, we’d love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at lindsey.p@ihcouncil.org.
In addition to community-wide programming, we are developing toolkits to help YOU more easily connect with your neighbors. Whether it’s a block party, a progressive dinner or an ice cream social, we know that connecting with your neighbors is good for your health (and has proven to help you live longer)! Are you the unofficial social chair for your neighborhood? We’d love your help, even if it’s simply to tell us what you’ve done. Get in touch with me at lindsey.p@ihcouncil.org.
Finally, we’re thrilled to be able to help expand the Issaquah Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. As soon as I took the CERT basic training last spring, I knew we needed more opportunities for residents to learn, train and get prepared. Along with some smaller workshops throughout the year, I’m excited to offer the first CERT basic training course at Blakely Hall, starting in February. (See page 6 for more information.)
Ask Me Anything: Community Connect Magazine
In this edition of Ask Me Anything, I answered a few questions about why we are switching from Connections News to a magazine format, and what that means for the community.
For more than 10 years, the Issaquah Highlands community has enjoyed Connections printed as a newspaper and delivered to their mailboxes. With this last issue of Connections, we are bidding farewell to an era. Starting in January 2025, Highlands Council is excited to instead publish a quarterly glossy magazine called Community Connect that will be full of information, news and directory services that are important to you.
We know change can be hard, and with this one comes a lot of questions. I answer many of those (including the why, the why now, the cost implications, and what you can expect from Community Connect) in the complete article on our blog.
Connecting Over Coffee
A highlight of my year has been meeting with neighbors for coffee. While I may fall short of my goal of connecting with 50 neighbors. (I’m just over halfway there!) It has been heartwarming to get to know so many of you this year. If we haven’t done coffee yet, I’d love for you to join me for a pumpkin-spice latte this fall or a hot chocolate this winter. Contact me at lindsey.p@ihcouncil.org or 425-507-1109 to get together!
