Patricia Lawrence, who moved to Memphis last year, spent Sunday evening meeting people in her new community with her family over a shared meal. She came with her family to The Longest Table, a free neighborhood potluck held Sept. 27 in Overton Park. Action News 5 reported that Lawrence attended to meet new people and described the value of finding neighbors willing to connect and help. For a gathering built around introductions as much as food, her family’s reason for showing up captured the evening’s simple invitation: sit down beside someone you have not met yet.
Army of Normal Folks Memphis hosted the event on Overton Park’s East Parkway from 5 to 7 p.m. The Memphis Inner City Rugby partner listing described The Longest Table as a free shared outdoor potluck organized by ANF Memphis. Choose901’s event page categorized the gathering as family-friendly. The event was scheduled for the day before National Good Neighbor Day, which fell on Monday, Sept. 28.
The organizers planned the evening around tables led by volunteers. The event listing asked Table Captains to invite 10 to 20 neighbors, family members or friends. That approach gave people a way to bring their own circles into a broader public meal and made each table a small point of welcome for someone new.
A place to start a conversation
Lydia Rosencrants, president of Army of Normal Folks Memphis, told Action News 5 that the gathering was a chance for neighbors to get to know people they might not otherwise meet while sharing food. The report said there was room to seat everyone looking for community. It did not give a final attendance figure, so the event’s planned turnout should not be confused with a confirmed count. What the report did show was a mix of residents coming for connection, including Lawrence and her family.
For Lawrence, the move to Memphis was recent enough that meeting people nearby still mattered. She told the station that people can feel alone while others around them may be willing to become friends or offer help. Her family came to meet new people in their community. The report does not say what conversations followed or whether the family made lasting friendships that night. It does show a concrete first step: they went to a public event designed to make introductions easier.
The Memphis gathering also brought Maryam Banikarim, co-founder of The Longest Table, to the park. She told Action News 5 that the idea began in her New York City neighborhood after the COVID-19 pandemic, as people looked for ways to strengthen community during a period of isolation. She described the larger movement as a collection of different local groups becoming part of something shared. In Memphis, the format gave neighbors a local version of that idea: gather for a meal, invite people who live nearby and leave room for newcomers.
Neighbors around one table
The format stayed grounded in ordinary acts of hosting. The Choose901 listing categorized the event as family-friendly, and the event partner Memphis Inner City Rugby identified its group as one of the table captains. Volunteers would invite their neighbors, relatives and friends to join a shared meal in the park. Those details helped turn a broad idea about community into a practical plan for one Sunday evening in Memphis.
The timing connected that meal to a day set aside for neighborliness, but the event was not presented as a solution to loneliness or a promise that strangers would become close friends. Rosencrants described a chance to meet people; Lawrence spoke about wanting connection for her family; Banikarim talked about how local gatherings can contribute to a larger community. Each account points to the same modest purpose without claiming more than the evening could establish.
A shared table can make it easier to begin: someone has to choose a seat, pass a dish or ask who else lives nearby. At Overton Park, organizers built those small openings into the plan by asking table captains to invite neighbors, relatives and friends. Action News 5 reported on residents who came to the park, including Lawrence and her family, who were there to meet people in their community. The Longest Table did not require a grand gesture from participants. It offered Memphis neighbors a meal, a place in the park and a reason to introduce themselves.
Reader responses