87-year-old goes viral for party invitation: ‘4pm until the cops arrive’

Michelle Hernandez was working from home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on a recent afternoon when her doorbell rang. She was surprised to see her neighbour, Doug Turner, on her front porch.

Turner, 87, handed her a folded piece of paper.

“Hi, I’m Doug across the street … I live over in that house there,” Turner said. “This is an invite to a party I’m having on February 15. I didn’t want to leave it in the mailbox.”

Doug Turner delivering an invitation for his winter party to his neighbour, Michelle Hernandez, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Credit: Courtesy of Michelle Hernandez

Hernandez thanked him and went inside to open it. “A Celebration of Winter,” read the handwritten invitation with a delicately drawn snowflake. “4pm until the cops arrive.”

“I was cracking up,” said Hernandez, 29, who moved to the neighbourhood with her husband five months ago and had met Turner once or twice in passing. “I just thought it was so sweet.”

Dough Turner has been hosting a neighbourhood winter party every year since his wife passed away.Credit: The Washington Post

She was impressed that Turner went door-to-door delivering the handmade invitations, which also said, “Food and drinks on offer”.

“People don’t really do that any more,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez figured others might find the personally delivered invite charming, too.

Their interaction was captured on Hernandez’s doorbell camera, and she decided to post a clip of it on TikTok. The video went viral, with more than 1.3 million views. When the Instagram account Good News Movement shared it, thousands of comments poured in.

“It just kept blowing up,” Hernandez said. “It’s been crazy.”

No one was more stunned than Turner himself.

“I didn’t expect any of this,” said Turner, adding that he wasn’t disclosing the name of his suburb to ensure the party didn’t get out of hand, as strangers on social media had asked to come.

Turner started throwing an annual neighbourhood winter party at his home after his wife died in 2022. He supplies all the snacks and drinks for the event, and asks that guests “bring only a smile”.

“My wife is gone now, so it gives me something to keep me busy,” said Turner, who has lived in the area for about 15 years.

He and his wife regularly hosted their neighbours for gatherings at their home.

Turner celebrating his birthday with his wife, Susan, in 2018. Credit: Courtesy of Elizabeth Mackey

“I have lived in five countries and 16 states, and I’ve had more friends here than any other place,” Turner said. “I just love to see them all.”

Turner thought throwing an annual party would be a good way to “keep those friendships percolating”, and also bring newer neighbours such as Hernandez into the fold. He invited 24 people to the party, most of whom RSVP’ed “yes” – including Hernandez and her husband.

“I’m going to get these people in one room, and maybe they’ll get to know each other,” said Turner, who has three children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, none of whom live nearby.

Turner’s daughter, Elizabeth Mackey, said her father’s neighbours were always looking out for him, especially since he had been on his own.

“They’re just the nicest people,” said Mackey, 62, who lives in the Bay Area.

Mackey described her dad as a social guy who delighted in engaging with people. She wasn’t surprised to learn he was planning another winter gathering.

“He’s way more social and has way more friends than I do,” she said. “He doesn’t just sit around. He’s actively having people over for dinner, or he’s going to the theatre or to lunch. He’s always out there.”

Turner said meeting new people and maintaining old friendships was what kept him going.

“I think maybe that’s why I’m still alive,” he said.

Although Turner worked for the US Forest Service for 30 years, he also has a degree in fine art.

“I like to draw and write,” he said, noting that he writes letters by hand, and usually adds some artistic elements. “I’ve always done it; it just seemed like what you do.”

While many people email and text to communicate, Turner said he preferred snail mail – or chatting in person.

“I still have about five correspondents; we write to each other on paper with fountain pens,” Turner said. “I’m not big into electronics.”

So, when it came time to make the invitations for his winter party Turner took pen to paper.

“It’s fun for me,” he said.

Still, he did not anticipate anyone – much less thousands of strangers on the internet – would take such pleasure in his invitation.

“Doug is the neighbour we all need right now,” someone commented on the video.

The Washington Post

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