Birthday celebration with cookies, cocktails, friends

What started out as a birthday party for three friends has turned into an annual celebration for an entire community.

“Cancers, Cookies and Cocktails,” hosted by Homewood residents Demi Kolke and Nisha Blackwell, will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Ms. Kolke has worked in Homewood for several years, first with Operation Better Block and now as a neighborhood planner with the City of Pittsburgh.

Through her work, Ms. Kolke became friends in 2012 with Kenny Stubbs, a Homewood businessman who was found murdered two years later. One of the properties Mr. Stubbs had owned, a vacant lot at 7401 Tioga St., went up for sale in 2016. Ms. Kolke bought the property with the vision of turning it into an outdoor event space for the community in memory of her friend.

“His family has always been very community oriented” and worked with her to make the land purchase a reality, she said about the outdoor space called Kenny’s.

That first year, she persuaded two of her friends — Nisha Blackwell and Marteen Garay — to hold a joint birthday party. The three women have birthdays within a week of one another. “Cancers, Cookies, and Cocktails” was born, with Cancers referring to the women’s zodiac sign. The trio stayed up all night before the first event, baking all

the cookies themselves. They charged $1 per cookie to help pay the DJ.

Ms. Garay has since moved to Los Angeles, but Ms. Kolke and Ms. Blackwell remain involved in planning the annual party, which has grown with each year. Ms. Kolke’s boyfriend, Von Washington, has rebuilt the fence around the lot and built a stage and a fire pit. Events often include the making of s’mores or roasting of hot dogs. Ms. Kolke calls the space BYOC, aka Bring Your Own Chair. The lot is primarily a green space that is kept mowed.

Last season, she hosted spoken word events, live music events, and yoga and Zumba classes there, along with the birthday celebration. Yoga and Zumba are scheduled for this season also, and more events are in theworks.

“A lot of neighborhood kids live right around the corner, and they loved the Zumba classes last year,” she said.

For last year’s “Cancers, Cookies and Cocktails” event, Giant Eagle and Eat’n Park donated the cookies. They’ll donate again this year and will be joined by Sodexo and Insomnia Cookies. The cookie table will feature many varieties.

The crowd at the first year’s event numbered about 60 and grew to about 85 last year. They’re hoping for more this year, depending on the weather.

They’ve also revamped the price and the drink offerings. Now they charge a flat $10 fee, which includes unlimited cookies. There’s also champagne and a beer keg on site, and each attendee gets a drink ticket for one specialty cocktail created by Erika Turner of Wine & Words Pittsburgh.

They’ll have a DJ again, and they’re working on getting a food truck this year, too.

For tickets, go to eventbrite.com and search for “3rd Annual Cancers, Cookies, and Cocktails.”