NORTHBOROUGH – For the past 40 years, Wiles Farm Road has been the home of block parties.
Twelve houses line the street, leading to a cul-de-sac filled with childhood memories. Every summer, the residents on Wiles Farm Road meet at the end of the road to celebrate summer and reconnect with a block party.
This summer, the event was especially important as it marked the 40th anniversary of the block party and welcomed back former residents. Ron Koshko, the operations manager of the event, worked to contact those who moved away.
The event hosted around 80 people, who hailed from as far away as Oregon, Australia and Singapore.
“It’s rare to find anybody doing a block party for 40 years,” Koshko said. “I think that’s what makes it really special. It’s in the interest of the kids who grew up in the neighborhood to come back and be part of that celebration.”
Although it has now gained global significance, it started 40 years ago with a simple gathering of neighbors.
“We were the last house to move in on this 12-house cul-de-sac and Rick Leif came down and said, ‘I’m glad you moved in, now that we have the entire neighborhood occupied, we’re gonna have a block party,’ ” Koshko said.
Leif was one of the first people to move into the neighborhood in 1984, and he has since worked to ensure the longevity of the event.
“Every time new people would move in we’d tell them, ‘Just be aware, this July we’re gonna do a neighborhood block party,’ and the new neighbors would get involved and their kids would get involved; it just went on and on,” Leif said. “It struck me that this coming year was gonna be the 40th consecutive year so we decided to invite back the original neighbors.”
The organizers didn’t know until recently that the original neighbors were actually coming to the party.
“They’re also coming back to see family, but the fact that they wanted to coordinate it with the annual block party means a lot to me, means a lot to Rick, means a lot to all of us. I mean that’s awesome,” Koshko said.
The reason the block party seemed to stick was due in part to the hard work of Koshko and Leif to get the word out, but also because of the event itself. The event has featured a fried dough stand, a replica of the Green Monster and a wagon train that lives on in the memories of everyone who participated.
According to Leif, the wagon train was a spur of the moment idea. The line of red wagons trailing behind a tractor remains a cherished memory for attendees, young and old, to this day.
“It was unique and all of the kids got to participate and they absolutely loved it. We ended up doing multiple rides around the neighborhood and through the backyards. And then the adults decided to ride so we gave them rides, too!” Koshko said.
One of the major goals of the event this year was to bring back those moments of joy for the new kids.
“The original residents grew up with great memories, and I’m hoping that when the younger kids come in we’ll find new things for them to say ‘Oh I remember that.’ We’ll create new memories for them,” Koshko said.
As for the future, they have no plans to stop holding the block party.
“It wasn’t our intention for this to become a regular event, but it just took on a life of its own. It’s amazing that this is the 40th year we’re doing it,” Leif said. “We’ve done it in nice weather. We’ve done it in bad weather, and we’ve done all kinds of things. We’re really pleased that we did it for 40 years and hope to continue as long as people are interested.”
