When 87-year-old Doug Turner started planning his Celebration of Winter party for the day after Valentine’s Day this year, he couldn’t have imagined the sensation it would become.
Doug and his late wife hosted the gathering for years to celebrate the winter solstice when she was alive. Now, even in her absence, he wanted to continue the tradition.
A self-professed lo-tech guy, Doug hand-wrote 25 simple invitations for the party at his Bucks County, Pennsylvania home. Bypassing the postal service, he then hand-delivered them to his neighbors on foot, with a smile on his face and cane in his hand.
Food and drinks would be provided, it said, so attendees needed to “only bring a smile.”
Time? “4pm until the cops arrive.”
His approach up the front steps of neighbor Michelle Hernandez’s house was recorded on her Ring doorbell camera. She happened to be working from home that day, so she answered the door and struck up a conversation with Doug. Having recently moved out of the city to the suburban neighborhood, Michelle was touched by Doug’s attempt to connect so personally with people he didn’t even know. She posted the video of their interaction online.
And as they say, the rest is history.
Over two million people have viewed the video to date and Doug’s popularity has exploded. Thousands of people around the world have sent Doug letters and cards of support for his kindness and desire to connect. Michael Bublé even shipped him a case of booze and several vendors sent food to get in on the fun.
In the end, Doug and his neighbors celebrated until after midnight. While many others tried to score an invite, Doug kept it small with only the neighbors on his original list. But they did livestream the event in an effort to include his many new fans.
And in case you were wondering, the cops did come – but only to pass through the neighborhood, not to shut down the party. A good time was had by all.
But that’s not the end of the story.
The simple way Doug connected with his neighbors inspired social gatherings far and wide to celebrate our connection to each other. “Doug’s Winter Party” is now on t-shirts and custom merch all over the internet. It’s crazy the amount of a stir this one 87-year-old man has created!
We can learn a lot from Doug about connecting with others:
1 – You don’t have to be high tech.
Doug isn’t tech savvy. But that didn’t stop him from figuring out a way to ask his neighbors to come over. Since he can’t type, he hand-wrote the invitations instead.
2 – You’re never too old – or too single.
Doug is 87 years old. Because he used to throw the winter party with his late wife, some might assume he’d let the tradition lapse now that she’s passed. But he still wants to live and connect with people. He didn’t let his age or the fact that he’s doing this on his own now stop him. He did it on his own terms.
3 – It takes just one person to start it.
Although Doug’s story eventually went viral online and spawned many other unrelated gatherings, he didn’t do this to seek outside attention. And even when the attention came, he never broadened the party invites past his own neighborhood of 25 houses. He simply wanted to “build up the strength of the neighborhood” by fostering a place for “great connection” and “seeing people meeting new people.” And he knew somebody needed to get the ball rolling.
4 – It doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate to be meaningful.
Doug didn’t hire a graphic designer or rent out a fancy restaurant for the night. His invitations used plain white paper using a simple design he created himself. He hosted his neighbors at his house.
We throw up a lot of roadblocks that prevent us from connecting with other people. Doug shows us how to set aside our excuses and do it anyway. You won’t regret it.
In an interview on NBC’s Today show after his party, Doug said with great humility that he hoped the trend he’s started to connect people would help fix our very divided country.
Let’s help make that happen. Share this story with as many people as you can, and consider hosting a gathering of your own to bring people together!
(Photo TIKTOK VICTORIA GOMEZ)
