By Andrew Shoemaker
In every neighborhood I have ever visited, I find one commonality. Everyone generally knows their neighbors one or two doors down and that’s about it. We may wave and say “hi,” but more than just pleasantries seldom happen.  But this past Sunday, I was invited to a different kind of neighborhood, the kind where everyone was friends with everyone.
 As I asked around, I discovered that just two years earlier, things were not that way.  In fact, for the previous 19 years it was not like that at all, said neighbor Clyde Rosencrance. Such a radical change in the neighborhood dynamic would require a myriad of different events to occur, I imagined. That was not the case, however. 
It was a yearly gathering put together by Jim, Cheryl and Sidney Horvath. This was the second year at their Clarks Summit home  that the Horvaths put up a party tent and got together food, drinks, entertainment (this year’s entertainer was well-known area singer Greg Palmer). Said Jim Horvath, “There are a lot of No. 2 entertainers but only one No. 1 and that’s Greg Palmer.”
Children were playing with one another everywhere while adults were laughing and joking.
If not at this great gathering, these people probably would have otherwise been inside watching TV, never knowing what a wonderful time they were missing.
This was the 12th  year  Jim Horvath has hosted an event such as this one, since during the previous 10 years the gatherings were held at his former residence in Scranton, where I am positive he is sorely missed. 
This was evident since some of their former Scranton neighbors followed the party up to “The Summit.”  Among  Scranton residents in attendance were the city’s fire chief and  his wife, Tom and Nancy Davis.
Jim Horvath commented, “A party like this is possible because great  neighbors make a great neighborhood. We babysit one another’s children, we’re friends, we care about one another. We’re really fortunate to live in a true neighborhood, where people are genuine, open and friendly.”
As I continued to meet more people at the gathering, I realized the type of person an event like this attracted, and was elated by it. For example, Mr. Palmer, who sings Saturday evenings at the dining room in the Woodlands, also spends most of his free time as a volunteer working with children at the Friendship House  in Scranton. 
To contact Greg Palmer for a booking or additional information on becoming a volunteer at the Friendship House, the number is 342-8305.  We also discovered that Palmer works with my next door neighbor who is also a therapist at the Friendship House. 
I believe that this alone illustrates what a positive difference the simple nicety of inviting neighbors over for a gathering can make, and what a small world it really is. 
If every neighborhood had a Jim, Cheryl and Sidney Horvath,  I think crime would cease to exist because it’s much harder to wrong someone you had a chance to get to like.