On September 19, people who came to Black & Tan Hall in Seattle’s Hillman City could spend part of the day picking up litter or painting the interior of Champ Boxing Gym, then return for lunch, make flower bouquets, and take part in a dance and cultural-learning session. The schedule gave participants a practical choice of ways to take part and brought the day into several neighborhood spaces.
A six-hour visit to Hillman City
The gathering was part of Best Day Ever, a Seattle neighborhood series co-created by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and Seattle Chamber of Connection. The chamber lists the September 19 event as the fourth of seven neighborhood days planned for 2026 and names Black & Tan Hall as host. Its calendar described a free six-hour experience, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for registered Seattle residents age 12 and older. That schedule combined the service hour with an afternoon cultural workshop at the same six-hour event. A post-event report by the South Seattle Emerald confirmed that the gathering took place and described visitors coming from neighborhoods across Seattle. The Emerald reported that close to 60 people attended. The organizer’s current program page also lists partners that included Champ Boxing Gym, Habesha Cafe, Made Space Seattle, and ADEFUA Cultural Education Workshop.
At Black & Tan Hall, the morning began with donuts, pastries, and coffee from King Donuts and Onda Origins, the Emerald reported. Karen Toering, a partner in the hall, and Charlotte Massey, the chamber’s executive director, spoke as participants gathered. Massey introduced six points of connection that guide the chamber’s work: neighborhood contact, community of identity, one-to-one relationships, a third place, play, and service. The day soon put the last of those ideas into practice.
A choice of ways to help
For the service hour, participants chose between picking up trash around the neighborhood and helping paint inside Champ Boxing Gym. The Emerald described this as a one-hour block. One option sent participants onto nearby streets; the other took the work inside Champ Boxing Gym. By lunchtime, participants had returned to Black & Tan Hall.
After the volunteer hour, the group returned to the hall for lunch from Habesha Cafe and a conversation about the day’s activities. Then Stephanie Morales of Made Space Seattle facilitated a bouquet-making workshop. The sequence moved from service to a quieter creative activity, with participants sharing a meal before working with flowers. The event’s program had been designed to mix service, learning, movement, shared food, and connection; the Hillman City account describes each of those elements appearing in the day.
In the afternoon, ADEFUA Cultural Education Workshop led a session in movement and cultural learning. The Emerald reported that participants danced to drumming and learned about African culture. Its photo captions describe drummers leading the dance, a participant trying a traditional instrument, and Afua Kouyaté directing traditional African movements. The workshop leaders brought the teaching into the room, with participants invited to move, listen, and learn.
New connections, in one participant’s words
The Chamber of Connection describes Best Day Ever as a series of free, neighborhood-based days built around service, movement, learning, gathering, and connection. In Hillman City, those categories became specific places and activities: a sidewalk, a boxing gym, a neighborhood hall, a local cafe, a bouquet table, and a workshop led by cultural educators. That mix gave people several ways to take part instead of asking everyone to connect in the same way.
One attendee, Henrietta Cottingham, told the Emerald that meeting people through the day changed how she thought about her ties to the neighborhood. After speaking with Champ Boxing Gym owner Kevin Loyal, she said she wanted to try boxing and felt a new connection despite living in a different ZIP code. “I have friends in new places,” she said.
The Hillman City day brought service, shared food, creative work, and cultural learning into one gathering. The Chamber’s current calendar lists additional Best Day Ever stops in Fremont on October 10, Lake City on October 24, and the Central District on November 14. The calendar carries the series through November.
Reader responses