The spicy smell of chili and all the fixings filled Cory and Tara Bouma’s home on a recent Friday afternoon, as their friends and neighbors gathered in the family’s home over a warm bowl of soup and cheerful conversation.
The happy scene that took place two weeks ago is a regular occurrence for residents of the Northwest Neighborhood Association, which for two years has been organizing soup nights during winter nights.
Kris Potter, the founder of Northwest neighborhood’s soup nights, was inspired by a similar event in Portland’s Irvington neighborhood. That eight-year tradition south of the Columbia River has even spurred its own cookbook.
The idea is simple: one family hosts and provides soup, and other families provide side dishes and their own bowls for easy cleanup. But according to Potter, the benefits extend beyond full tummies.
“I think that it’s a way to unify the neighbors,” Potter said. “The more neighbors know each other, even if it’s a passing knowledge, the safer the neighborhood.”
Soup nights also give those who may otherwise hunker down to keep out of the cold a chance to gather with their neighbors and get to know each other, beyond Facebook or popular neighborhood networking website Nextdoor, neighborhood association president Noland Hoshino said.
“We sit, have a conversation and get to know each other,” Hoshino said.
The neighborhood also hosts coffee talks and weekly meetings, and is considering extending soup night into monthly barbecues during the summer, Hoshino said.
Cory Bouma walked through the crowd in his kitchen as his wife doled out heaping bowls of chili. Some neighbors the couple knew, others they didn’t. But the couple greeted the dozen people in their brightly lit kitchen — newly renovated, as Bouma was quick to point out — with the same broad smiles, whether they knew them or not.
“We like hosting gatherings,” Cory Bouma said. “We have a good time inviting people in.”
Roianne Cox was among those at the Bouma home. For her, the visit was a short walk. Cox lives across the cul-de-sac.
Cox is a vocal cheerleader for the neighborhood. She built her house 26 years ago and has seen many homes pass from one generation to the next. Events like soup night only feed that love.
“I just love this neighborhood,” she said. “Nobody ever leaves. I love that.”
