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Overcast Neighbors helping neighbors
The Sylvan Place neighbors
Estimates vary as to when the neighbors on Sylvan Place started banding together to hold a Christmas fundraiser on their block.
There is, however, a rough consensus among at least a handful of them that it was sometime around 20 years ago, when a few began going all-out with their Christmas decorations, creating elaborate displays of lights that drew visitors from nearby streets.
Shortly afterward, realizing that a number of Sylvan Place residents had family members who were attending or had attended Camp ANCHOR, a camp for special-needs children in Lido Beach, they decided to place a collection box outside for donations to the organization.
A tradition was born.
It has since evolved into a full-fledged block party, with both ends of the street blocked off to traffic for a night, traditionally on the weekend before Christmas, replete with a visit from Santa Claus atop a fire truck, Christmas carols, as well as free hot chocolate and, in the traditional block party mode, hot dogs.
Tragically, the tradition took on new meaning in 2013, after one of their own, Christopher Schroeder, died of leukemia at age 18, and another, Michael Smith, who had Down syndrome, died at age 44. The event has since been dedicated to the two, and in addition to Camp ANCHOR, which Smith attended as a child, Sunrise Day Camp, a summer camp for children with cancer, and where Schroeder aspired to become a counselor, became a recipient of the funds raised.
Camp ANCHOR uses the funds for better wheelchairs, costumes for its drama club and trips. “The Sylvan Place block party is amazing,” said Mariannne Pizza, the office manager of the Anchor Program Fund Inc. “It’s a wonderful and very beautiful event where the community comes together to raise donations that they split between two charities. I’m very thankful for the donations.”
It is for this enduring community spirit, and their dedication to giving to others, that the Herald is proud to name the Sylvan Place neighbors its 2019 People of the Year.
“It’s unheard of to have a block party in December, but this event gives people the opportunity to band together, whether it’s rain, sleet or snow, to laugh, forget their troubles from last year and spend time together, while looking forward to the year to come,” said Sylvan Place resident Alex Carr, who has helped organize the fundraiser for more than 15 years. “This block party is a way to give back and help people who need help . . . One of the most rewarding parts about it is knowing that this is helping people on my block who utilize these charities.”
According to Rich Dyer, another of the party’s organizers, it started with three of his neighbors, Bob Cappola and Ron and Elizabeth Strangis.
“When I moved in, I wasn’t a huge decorator,” said Dyer, who has lived on the block for 16 years. “Between the two of them, they had huge, huge displays,” and their decorating spirit proved infectious.
Dyer, a carpenter, built his own decorations, and now, he said, his house is one of the more elaborately decorated on the block.
Others took note, and although Cappola and the Strangises have since moved away, and other neighbors have also moved or died over the years, new ones have taken up the decorating.
“I’m glad that it didn’t die with the people that started it,” Dyer said. “They planted a seed and it’s taken root.”
The decorations were a draw, particularly for children who stopped by around Christmas to look, and they were typically greeted by groups of Sylvan Place neighbors who had gathered outside with hot chocolate, sharing their decorating tips and discussing their occasionally harrowing holiday season stories.
From that evolved the block party.
“It originally started with a few neighbors a couple of nights before Christmas, standing outside, talking and sharing hot chocolate,” said ErinAnne McGovern, who has lived on Sylvan Place her entire life, and whose family has been on the block for more than 40 years. “It blossomed, with each year more and more neighbors stopping by, chatting and sharing holiday stories.”
Eventually, realizing that a number of children on the block had attended Camp ANCHOR, including her younger brother, McGovern said, her family began putting a collection box outside their house at the start of the season.
Sometime around 2007, as the gatherings grew more popular, neighbors began circulating a petition to submit to the village to close off their block to traffic for a block party.
Everyone on Sylvan contributes to the event, she said, whether it’s gathering donations, helping to set up or clean, but ultimately, McGovern said, the block party “is about pausing for a moment and remembering what Christmas is about, which is loved ones, friends, family and the enjoying the simple things in life.”
Maureen Matzer, who has lived on Sylvan for 23 years, said she used to bring her girls’ Holy Name of Mary CYO basketball team to the party, and when her own children were young, she would routinely bring them around to the most elaborately decorated houses.
For Matzer, the block party signals the start of the holiday break from school and work. “It’s a sign,” she said, “it’s finally Christmas.”
And with a daughter who attended Camp ANCHOR herself, she said she appreciates her neighbors’ efforts. “It’s so generous that everyone dedicates their time,” Matzer said. “. . . It means a lot that they put an ANCHOR box out there.”
Rosalie Machalow, who has lived on Sylvan since 1980 and who contributes primarily through donations, said she has enjoyed watching the tradition grow over the years.
“It’s a wonderful event,” she said. “Every year the houses are beautifully lit, Santa Claus comes by fire truck, and little gifts are given out to kids. It’s just a good time had by all.”
Although neighbors have come and gone over the years, many on the block said that through the holiday tradition, their bonds remained strong.
And when Smith and Schroeder died, they rallied.
The ones lost
Smith was well known on Sylvan. “He was a fixture,” Dyer said.
He worked at Staples, and had been active in the Holy Name of Mary Parish, serving as an usher and preparing bulletins at the church every week, according to his sister, Mary Smith Jr.
He also loved to play the saxophone, and was known to play Christmas carols for partygoers.
Although she moved away in 1989, before the tradition began, Smith said she would bring her children to visit and see the lights, and despite the fact that they’re now in their 20s, Smith said she still tries to bring her family out to Sylvan every year for the party.
“There was really something special about that block,” she said. “Everyone really watched out for each other . . . and I was really not surprised by their generosity. That’s just the kind of neighborhood and block it is.”
Schroeder was known for his generosity, and his love of bowling and soccer. He played both sports for South High School, and in 2008 he competed at the Youth Olympics in bowling in Austria.
He continued to play even after his diagnosis, and in 2012 he earned a silver medal and a $250 scholarship in the Peter J. LaSpina Memorial Tournament.
“He just wanted to do it,” his father, Wally, said of his son’s continuing to compete. “He wanted to prove even if you’re sick, you can do anything if you put your mind to it.”
Even in the hospital, Schroeder tried to help fellow cancer patients in his ward with their treatments. “He was the kind of guy that would give you the shirt off his back,” his father said. “Even when he was sick, he’d still want to help people out, even at the end.”
Schroeder wanted to become a counselor at Sunrise, and help others who were going through what he was experiencing, but never had the chance.
His loss was devastating to the family. “It feels like it was yesterday,” his father said.
“He passed away too soon, and it left a hole in his parents’ hearts,” Dyer said, adding, “He would have been 25 this year.”
Wally continues to help with the block party, and as a 45-year firefighter with Engine Company No. 2, he brings its fire truck, to the delight of the attending children.
“It was really nice, and thoughtful of the block to do that,” he said of his neighbors’ decision to dedicate the tradition partially to his son. “It’s hard to put things like that into words.”
Schroeder knew Smith, he said, and given his propensity for kindness, “I’m sure he’d be happy to know that we’re collecting money for both him and Michael, because that’s the type of person he was, and I think it’s great that we’re keeping it going.”
