City of Neighborhoods: McAuliffe Park

GREEN BAY – John Crabbe, born and raised in McAuliffe Park, has found his time as president of his home’s Neighborhood Association (NA) to be a rewarding responsibility.

“I think (NAs) were kind of formed more or less to be like a go-between neighbors and the city,” said Crabbe, who shared he is highly motivated by the connections that are made between neighbors because of the work done by NAs.

After serving in the Navy and some time spent in Madison, John returned home.

McAuliffe Park is an estimated 800-home neighborhood, which is why Crabbe is always the first to recognize the volunteers who put in countless hours of their time to better their NA.

“Associations are only as good as the people in the neighborhoods,” said Crabbe.

Crabbe also recognized the NA’s previous president, who organized the creation of an honorary plaque for Chris McAuliffe to be displayed at the neighborhood shelter.

Currently, Crabbe feels proudest of his neighborhood’s monthly music in the park events, known as “Talk of the Town.”

Talk of the Town’s next rendition is on Aug. 12 in McAuliffe Park with musical guest, Rocker.

Crabbe shared that McAuliffe Park got the idea from movie in the park events, where his NA then put their own twist on a park-set community event.

“A lot of these movies are stuff that most people have already seen before, so you weren’t getting a big turnout and we didn’t really have the funds to the rights of a high end kind of movie. And then you try doing picnics and things like that, but we just weren’t getting a turnout. So, it was kind of suggested, like, how about just having some local bands kind of come in? And I’ve been doing that for a couple years,” said Crabbe.

Again, Crabbe gave almost all the credit of coordinating these events to the NA’s board and community volunteers.

However, Crabbe did express a few concerns regarding how much people-power it can take to organize events for a neighborhood of this size.

Crabbe says that both him and his board have many ideas for what’s next for their NA, however their current lack of outreach and volunteers can often interfere with these plans.

Because of this, Crabbe strongly encourages McAuliffe Park residents to stay updated on local events by following “McAuliffe Park Neighborhood Association” on Facebook.

And to those who would like to take it a step further, the NA gladly welcomes any and all who are looking to volunteer within their neighborhood.

For additional information regarding Green Bay Neighborhoods and their mission, visit gbneighborhoods.org.