Interested in planning a progressive dinner for your own neighborhood? Mary Rehak sent us her tips for doing it right:

• Take the time to think about your goal: Do you want a community bonding event, a celebratory event or a super-simple week-end get-together?

A balloon tied to a mailbox signals one of the host houses. Staff photo by Derek Davis

• Decide how to divide the courses so expenses and workload are as evenly distributed as possible.

• If more than one person is organizing, try to have a diverse group to best distribute tasks. Make sure all have a decent sense of humor.

• Having a theme is great if it makes everyone comfortable. “Home-cooked meals,” “Cinco de Mayo,” and “Italian night” are examples of good choices.

• Everyone participating should RELAX and remember that the Queen of England will probably not be showing up. The objective is to socialize while sharing the work, not to compete with your neighbors as to who is the best cook.

• As an organizer, be prepared to change your assignment, fill in where needed and be a pinch hitter.

• If it is a large crowd, there will be changes. There will be last-minute changes. Be flexible, and count on the sense of humor of your committee pals to help facilitate a new plan.

• Be organized, record everything, especially as the changes start coming in.

• Thank everyone 100 times. The key to progressive dinner success is generosity.