WHCCA holds a number of Community Involvement events each year. Please see you Whispers newsletter or contact one of the WHCCA board members to volunteer as a helper with the Egg Hunt, Spring Clean up, Bike Parade, Garage Sale, Annual Picnic, and other neighborhood events. Annual events include:

• Coffee social (Lewis Creek Park Visitor Center)
  This is a relatively new event that is still evolving. It has been held on a weekday evening in early Spring. A speaker is invited to present on a topic of general interest in the community. Refreshments help break the ice. A possible new wrinkle being considered is a wine tasting event featuring northwest wineries.
   
• Spring Egg Hunt (Lattawood Park)
  We hide over 1000 candy-filled plastic eggs in the park and turn the children loose.  The park is divided so the little kids have their own area and the big kids don't get all of the eggs first. Even in the mild rain which we sometimes (often?) have in the early Spring, this is a fun event that is always well attended. Photos.
  
  

• Spring Clean-Up
  Every spring (usually in April) our neighborhood joins forces with the city of Bellevue to clean up several of the common areas.  Clean up tasks including weeding, picking up trash, planting, and spreading mulch.  Target areas include Lattawood Park. Collingwood Minipark, the ravine on 46th Way, and the steep woods trail connecting 46th Way to "The Heights."  The City of Bellevue says we are a model community for this event and wishes other neighborhoods were as involved as ours. Historically the city has provided plants, mulch and trash bags; we provide the tools, labor and donuts. Photos.
  
  

• Kids' Bike Parade, 4th of July
  This is always great fun for the kids in our neighborhood. Starting in 2005, picnic lunch and popsicles have been provided after the parade in Collingwood Park. Children of all ages are invited to ride their bikes on the parade route.  The city of Bellevue provides a fire engine; children can climb aboard and have their pictures taken.  Watch the annual June issue of the Whispers for details off of the upcoming event.
  
  

• Neighborhood Garage Sale
  Got old things you never use around your house?  This is the time to turn it into cash instead of trash. The "all-neighborhood garage sale" has been held at various times of the year, from early Summer to early Fall. Rather than having a scattering of personal garage sales every week throughout the year, we encourage everyone to participate in this annual neighborhood event. We advertise the sale in the local newspapers and always get a big turnout from local neighborhoods and well as garage sale fans from as far as Seattle. The event typically starts at 9 AM sharp, but hard core "junkers" have been known to start patrolling much earlier.
  
  Check the home page for this year's garage sale date, and let us know if you plan to host a sale. In some years we have marked participating home son a map that will be passed out at neighborhood entrances.  If you don't have a lot to sell, consider joining forces with your neighbors.  Also see the Seattle Times Garage Sale Guide for tips and Seattle Public Utilities Neighborhood Garage Sale Guide for some of what goes in to planning this event.
  
  
• Neighborhood Picnic (on hold)
  Historically this event was held in Lattawood Park on a Saturday, typically noon to 3pm, during mid-to-late summer. Beginning in 2005, an exciting new format was enjoyed by the largest-ever crowd attending this event. The WHCCA provided sandwiches, cold soda, and dessert, plus games and entertainment such as sack races and a giant "bounceabout."  More recently attendance has waned significantly and one theory is that in Western Washington, families have too many summer weekend activities that take them elsewhere.  Currently the WHCCA picnic is not being scheduled but will be considered in the future if conditions and interest levels appear to change.