Opening doors, building community at Moorings Cluster

By Ellyn Wexler, staff writer

Moorings Cluster happy hour has been going since 2018-- a true testament to Reston being conducive to tight-knit community. Photo contributed by Karen Marston

One of the pleasures of living in Reston is its strong sense of community, but those connections don't just happen on their own. Sometimes they begin with one neighbor willing to open a front door.

For nearly eight years, Karen Marston has been doing exactly that.

Soon after Karen and her husband, Rob, moved to Moorings Cluster on Lake Anne in the fall of 2017, she noticed an opportunity to help neighbors get to know one another. The waterfront townhome community, built in 1971-72, includes 48 homes, about two-thirds of them bordering the lake.

A self-described "very social person" and extrovert, Marston had organized neighborhood gatherings before. While living in Springfield for 26 years, she started a monthly girls' night out after families whose children had been on the community swim team found themselves missing the friendships they'd built together. During another move to Rhode Island, she formed a Bunco group.

When the Marstons settled into Moorings Cluster, Rob suggested starting a neighborhood happy hour for couples. "He was completely on board," Marston said.

The first Moorings Cluster Happy Hour was held in January 2018 at the Marstons' home. Invitations went out to the entire neighborhood, and the response was enthusiastic. Before long, Karen had been named the community's social director.

Originally scheduled for the last Wednesday of each month, the gatherings now take place whenever the month's hosts choose. Typically, about 15 neighbors attend, although the most recent happy hour drew 21 people, including the hosts.

Each household brings an appetizer or dessert to share along with its own beverages. Hosts simply provide ice, paper plates and utensils, although some prefer to use their own dinnerware. At the end of the evening, guests take home their serving dishes and any leftover food.

The format keeps hosting simple while making it easy for everyone to participate, including neighbors with vegan, gluten-free or dairy-free diets.

The happy hours also satisfy neighbors' curiosity. Since nearly every townhouse has the same floor plan, guests enjoy seeing how each homeowner has customized the space. "At the beginning, everybody was curious about who we were and what we had done to make the house our own," Marston said.

Today, visitors still stroll through each host's home, comparing decorating styles, renovations and creative uses of the shared layout.

More importantly, Marston said, the evenings help create lasting friendships. "You learn about the things you have in common with your neighbors," she said. "It brings the community together."

Even the COVID-19 pandemic couldn't stop the gatherings for long. After pausing during the height of the pandemic, neighbors resumed meeting outdoors in backyards and neighborhood tot lots, bringing their own tables and chairs, using hand sanitizer and disposable tableware, and spacing themselves appropriately.

Marston maintains an email distribution list for the happy hours and always gives residents the option to be removed. No one has ever asked.

Instead, neighbors frequently stop her while she's out and about to ask when the next gathering will be held or to volunteer to host one themselves. "I get many thank-yous," she said.

One rule has remained in place from the beginning: no sales pitches. The happy hours are about building relationships, not promoting businesses. An exception came when one resident, a quilting artist with an exhibit at Lake Anne, invited neighbors to gather at the gallery so they could enjoy her work together.

As the neighborhood has evolved, so have the conversations. Only two families in the cluster now have young children. Most residents are empty nesters whose children are in college, getting married or raising families of their own.

"It's a way for people to meet each other that's not a board meeting," Marston said. "You sit and chat and get to know each other."

The monthly happy hours are just one of the social traditions she organizes. Each fall, Moorings Cluster also holds a neighborhood barbecue that is consistently well attended.

For Marston, the recipe for building community doesn't require elaborate planning or expensive events. It simply takes neighbors willing to spend an evening together.

"You don't have to look for community," she said. "You create it."