300 Friends for breakfast at Third Place Commons

Oops - we overcounted the house in the first publication of the story. Corrected 02-29-2012 1:13pm

2012 Friends of Third Place Commons Breakfast
Photo by Kieran McKeon

By Constance Perenyi

On February 9, Friends of Third Place Commons celebrated the beginning of our 12th year with our most successful breakfast ever. We welcomed 300 guests, and exceeded our fundraising goals. We also had a lot of fun.

Every year, board members of Friends of Third Place Commons select a community partner to honor at the breakfast. In 2012, we honored the Lake Forest Park Youth Council and the Interact Club at Shorecrest. Both groups contribute greatly not only to Friends, but to Lake Forest Park and beyond. And as they have in the past, they made the breakfast run smoothly, from helping with set-up to serving.

Friends of Third Place Commons was delighted to present them with the award, and then to welcome Siri Hulbert to speak about her experiences teaching youth and working with the Interact Club. As she concluded her remarks, the Junior Varsity of the Shorecrest Hip Hop Club took the stage to energize the Commons.

The breakfast was the perfect way to celebrate this milestone in the Commons. 

A dozen years is enough for a generation to come of age. The children who stood barely as tall as the chess pieces in the Commons are now in high school, still in the Commons, but now focused on their laptops as they study. The sixth grade band members who played in public for the first time on our stage are in college, and we often see them at the Farmers Market when they come home during the summer. 

Many of the high school students who diligently studied at the big wooden table are now parents themselves. If they are lucky enough to be in the area, they can bring their babies to Playtime, and remember how much fun they had in this magical place when they were younger.

In the fall of 2011, Friends of Third Place Commons hosted a special evening for Shorecrest students and Lake Forest Park Rotary to envision the future. Without fail, all of the students spoke with passion about how important the Commons, the Farmers Market, and the entire Town Center is to them. Their vision of the future evolved around a vital community space at the heart of a thriving city. On the morning of February 9, everyone at the Breakfast shared that vision as we celebrated the last 12 years and welcomed the next generation growing up in the Commons.

Friends of Third Place Commons is grateful to our sponsors and community partners for invaluable support. For more information, please visit our website, and Like us on Facebook.