Photo submitted to Times Observer Front Porch Day committee members, sponsors, and participants gathered on the front porch are (front, from left) Doug Hearn, Marge Smith, and Pete Smith, and (back) Tricia Durbin, Ben Kafferlin, and Jeff Eggleston.

Warren County Front Porch Days has experienced dramatic growth over the past three years.

After 30 years as an idea milling around in the heads of a few county residents, the event was started up as a single-day event in areas of the City of Warren in 2020.

Last year, it was a two-day event and spread to Pleasant Township, North Warren, Pittsfield, Youngsville, Sugar Grove, Russell, Sheffield, and Tidioute.

How much it will grow this year is not yet known.

The third annual Warren County Front Porch Days will be held Saturday, Aug. 13, and Sunday, Aug. 14 throughout Warren County.

Included in the event is a sing-along at the DeFrees Pavilion at Betts Park at 2 p.m. Sunday.

It’s a simple idea, really. The growth of the backyard barbecue, the swing set, the patio, and things like that, among social factors, decreased the use of the front porch. That, in turn, turned neighbors into strangers.

Warren County Front Porch Days looks to turn that around.

“Warren County Front Porch Days encourages Warren County residents to get to know their neighbors,” co-founder Gary Lester said.

That Warren County already has strong communities doesn’t mean there isn’t room to grow.

“Warren County is blessed by the wonderful communities we have,” Lester said. “Our neighborhoods offer abundant opportunities for socialization and fun.”

“Front porches are a perfect place for this to happen,” he said.

Even people without front porches can participate. “Driveway and block parties work, too,” Lester said.

And, for everyone who waits on a front porch to welcome visitors, there has to be a visitor who wanders through the neighborhood.

The sing-along is a throw-back to the very seeds of the idea.

More than 30 years ago, a group from Warren County heard a folk singer sing and talk about front porches and how people don’t use them anymore.

They were intrigued. But the singer didn’t have concrete statistics nor a plan for the future. He encouraged them to make it happen, Lester said.

They did, though it took most of three decades.

Last year, they invited that singer, Bill Kimmons, and his wife, Rebecca, to participate in Front Porch Days. They did and, performing as Bare Bones, led a sing-along at First Lutheran Church. Bare Bones has been invited to return.

The idea hasn’t spread to “National Front Porch Day” yet, but it could, according to its organizers.

“We started with a few neighborhoods, moved to a county-wide program, and have a vision that Warren County will become ‘The Home of National Front Porch Day,'” Lester said. “We’ll see.”