West-side Galway Park neighborhood bonds over holidays and special events, makes improvements

In the Galway Park neighborhood, it’s all about making memories for the kids.

And for the adults.

Because the grown-ups who spend hours planning the annual Halloween trail of treats and bring in Santa and Mrs. Claus for an early Christmas visit and help prepare May baskets for delivery and volunteer their time to landscape the popular neighborhood park know that they are building a community that make this development in southwestern Sioux Falls a place that is difficult to leave.

When Jessica Kramer and her husband, Brent, moved to the neighborhood in 2007, they viewed it as a starter home. She grew up in Carpenter, an unincorporated town in Clark County, and had considered moving to one of Sioux Falls’ “suburbs.”

But as the Kramer family expanded to three children — now a sophomore at Roosevelt High School, a seventh grader at Memorial Middle School and a fourth grader at Pettigrew Elementary — Jessica Kramer remembered something she had learned growing up.

“Community is something you build,” she said.

And she found her neighbors were asking the same question: “How could we do that in Sioux Falls, build a community where the neighbors interacted, like I experienced in small-town South Dakota?”

Part of the community-building process was establishing the Galway Park Neighborhood Association. It really had begun a bit before that, however, when one of the Galway Park residents, Mitchell Olson, organized a pumpkin-painting party at the park. Kramer reached out to Olson, asking if he was interested in organizing a more formal gathering, and an invitation was issued through the neighborhood Facebook page.

Joining them was neighbor Sandy McConnell, who already had helped start a Neighborhood Watch group. With grant money from the city of Sioux Falls, organizers conducted regular meetings so residents could express their concerns about things like a dangerous intersection that needed traffic lights.

A socialization committee was established, and plans were made for the first block party. A beautification committee also was set up with a focus on Galway Park and its pond, which actually is what McConnell calls a “glorified drainage ditch.”

Despite its humble beginnings, the pond provides beauty to the area.

“I love to watch the eagles over there,” McConnell said. “Oftentimes, I’m taking pictures of the geese.”

In the eight or so years since the association was founded, the neighborhood has flourished.

Having the group gives Galway Park neighborhood a stronger voice, Kramer said. The concern that was voiced early on about the need for a stoplight? That was added to a dangerous intersection at 57th and Galway.

McConnell calls her neighborhood “a hidden gem.” Like the Kramers, McConnell and her husband, Todd, intended that the house they purchased 15 years ago would be their starter home. Now, however, the real estate agent who sees a lot of houses on the market said she can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Another house in the neighborhood once tempted her until her son, Carter, now 10, protested.

“It was on the pond and the only house I would move for,” McConnell said. “But he said: ‘Mom, it has a tree right in the middle of the backyard. Where am I going to play football?”

Leslie Dolby describes the Galway Park neighborhood as “a very welcoming, warm and friendly environment.” Neighbors look out for one another, she said.

“If you need anything, you can find a neighbor that’s going to help you out. It’s a good mixture of young families with kids and retirement-age folks as well, a good mix of people,” she said. “I would not move because I guarantee I’m not going to find a better neighborhood in Sioux Falls than this one.”

Dolby moved into her home in 2008 and now lives with her two daughters and fiance in one of five houses in a row that have children of the same age. Her daughter and Kramer’s daughter met each other as infants, attended the same schools and can pop in and out of the other’s home in just a few steps.

Dolby is in her ninth year of coordinating the Galway Park fall rummage sale, set for Sept. 26-28 this year. She also serves on the social event committee, planning the neighborhood “party by the pond” and the Halloween event.

That party started out as a potluck. Now, organizers bring in food trucks and plan special entertainment. This year’s event included a local singer, a magician and inflatables. The Sioux Falls Fire Department brought a truck and let the kids hold the fire hose and spray the water. Neighbors who operate small businesses can share information, giving other residents the awareness to offer future support.

When Halloween comes, neighbors will offer treats to the 500 or 600 costumed children who parade along a winding trail around Galway Park’s pond, like a trunk-or-treat event but without cars. One night in December, Santa Claus and his wife will travel the Galway Park neighborhood streets while riding in a horse-drawn buggy.

“The Grinch joined them this past year, and someone gave him an onion,” Kramer said. “Little traditions like that are just fun.”

“Volunteers hand out candy canes,” McConnell said. “It’s so heart-warming to look at people at windows waiting for Santa to come, and all the kids and families waiting for Santa to come through. People will be on driveways and have a fire going, in their pajamas.”

The beautification committee went through a slow period several years ago, but interest has increased. Children flock to the park equipment, but some of them also appreciate the park’s other aspects. Kramer was planting flowers one day when youngsters were invited to join in.

“One little girl said, ‘Someday when I’m all grown up, I’m going to bring my kids back and say, look I did that,’” Kramer said.

A Minnehaha Urban Conservation team put in native pollinator-friendly beds in the park through a multiyear effort. Efforts are being made to improve the park’s “very, very poor soil quality.” The pond attracts tons of wildlife, Kramer said.

Pat Helgeland built a home in the Galway Park neighborhood 19 years ago this fall. Helgeland, who is semi-retired, describes the neighborhood as “a big family.” For years, residents would deliver welcome baskets to new families, and Helgeland would bake cookies to be included among the gifts.

Like Kramer, Helgeland has donated flowers like autumn joy sedum and hostas to the Galway Park gardens.

An avid walker, Helgeland uses her strolls through the neighborhood as a chance to meet both adults and children.

“I have become friends with some of the families as a result of being out and about,” she said. “I love the neighborhood. Everybody is kind and welcoming.”

Helgeland agrees that the Galway Park neighborhood has a small-town feel. During the pandemic, which confined many people to their homes, neighbors would use the Facebook page to offer help. They used the internet to interact, she said.

It’s a stable neighborhood, residents said.

“I’m thinking even in the past year maybe, there’s been only four or five houses for sale,” Helgeland said. “It’s not like there’s a huge turnover in homeowners around here. We have all ages, people with young babies and young children to retirees and anything in between. People pitch in. In the winter when there’s snow, there will be people hopping on Facebook: ‘Anybody need their driveway taken care of? I can help.’ It says a lot for the quality of the people here; they care about each other.”

McConnell said she appreciates having neighbors from different backgrounds and trades: bakers, gardeners, woodworkers, handymen and people willing to lend a hand. You can rely on your neighbors to shovel you out in the winter or mow your yard in the summer, she said.

There are families who have relatives within blocks of each other. Kramer knowns an adult brother and sister who live just a few houses apart, and until a few years ago, the parents resided on the same street. When the parents downsized, they moved to the newer Galway development a few minutes south. Another family built a house right across the street for their child. A third family has the parents on one side of the pond with their kids and grandkids on the other side.

“People come and go for various reasons, but some plant some roots and stick around for years,” McConnell said.

One family had a house fire last year, and a pet died. Young neighbors had talked about having a lemonade stand all summer, and the family’s loss spurred them on. They raised $364 in three days and donated it all to the grieving family.

“This brought tears to my eyes today when we stopped to buy lemonade only to find the proceeds were going to us,” the mother wrote. “THANK YOU so much for teaching your boys kindness and to think of others.”

When Carter McConnell grows up and is on his own, will Sandy and Todd McConnell consider living somewhere else? She’s not so sure.

“It’s hard to say,” McConnell said. “You feel safe when you know your neighbors. I was out of town when I got a message from my neighbor in the back: ‘I think your downspout just turned on.’ They went to shut it off. I’ve had times when somebody needs to borrow something, and you give them the code to the garage. That comes from the events we have. When people feel like they’re involved and can contribute, you care about the neighborhood more, you have more pride.”