One would think a well-planned and advertised community association meeting in a local school auditorium featuring a new city councilperson willing to hear community concerns would draw a big crowd. Presumably, the school auditorium would be filled on a Wednesday night in the neighborhood. In truth, only 39 people showed up for the University City Community Association (UCCA) general meeting with District 1 Councilwoman Sherri Lightner on a recent March Wednesday. Included in the 39 were eight members of the UCCA board. Although the turnout was a great disappointment, this small turnout gave credence to Prof-essor Robert Putnam’s theory in his book, “Bowling Alone.” Putnam is a public policy professor at Harvard. According to Putnam, in the last 25 years, there have been dramatic, declining social capital trends. Attending club meetings, like the example of the UCCA meeting, has seen a 58 percent drop; family dinners have seen a 43 percent drop, and having friends over has seen a 35 percent drop. The humorous title of his book deals with social capital and how social networks have real value. People used to bowl in leagues, and now people bowl alone. People used to go to meetings; now they stay home. Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors and our democratic structures. He promises the reader it is easy and critical to reconnect. “The very fabric of our connections with each other has plummeted, impoverishing our lives and communities,” according to Putnam. Andy Freeburn, UCCA president and former chair of U.C. Celebration, said, “Unfortunately, most residents of any community only rally around a cause. It is funny that over 400 people stopped by Forum Hall in UTC on Tuesday, the night before the UCCA meeting, to cast a vote for a position with only a 1/12 influence on an advisory committee, voting for University City Planning Group members. Yet UCCA couldn’t get more than about 30 residents to spend an hour with their City Council representative. If you advertise a crisis that directly and personally affects the locals, there would have been standing room only. Next time I suggest the following topics: Thunderbirds to participate with Blue Angels in this year’s air show or Governor Drive will be closed Friday nights for street racing.” Here’s another hot-button issue this writer thinks would draw a crowd: Seals, accompanied by their lawyers, will be featured speakers and tell their story about Children’s Pool Beach. U.C. Planning Group members have strong views on the proposed Regents Road Bridge, which was supported by former City Councilman Scott Peters, who got most City Council members to vote in favor of the bridge, with Toni Atkins and Donna Frye dissenting. Litigation is holding up the bridge building. Lightner, our current City Council representative and featured speaker, campaigned against it. For those people filling seats at Standley Middle School auditorium on March 11, she gave her reasons why. Regents Road Bridge will not solve a traffic problem on Genesee, she said. Instead Lightner wants to synchronize traffic lights on Genesee in order to speed up traffic. She endorsed a pedestrian bridge at Governor and Genesee intersection; this would accommodate the children and seniors who use this tough crossing. Her third suggestion was reinstating a fire station in South U.C. Yes, there once was one next to Curie School. It was relocated far north to Eastgate Mall. Putnam’s “social capital” reconnected some residents to U.C. Planning group for the vote but kept them disconnected from the meeting with their civic association. In another matter, UCCA newsletter delivery chair Mary Kay Hewitt, who could serve as the poster child for community involvement for decades, is awestruck by the number of volunteers she has who deliver a monthly newsletter to residents. She counts more than 100 people walking their neighborhood delivering a homegrown, volunteer-written account of what’s happening locally, listing activities and youth success stories. One wonders how much the global financial crisis stems from a loss of social capital, that disconnection from friends and family, communities and clubs. We are reading about greed and selfishness, entitlements and more greed. Individuals are accumulating millions in bonuses, rewarded for failure in reality. We sit in our own homes and worry about our future and our country’s future. Perhaps we should get out, get together, plan a block party, get involved in community activities like the popular University City Celebration that has been a July 4 tradition over two decades. Its next planning meeting is Tax Day, April 15, at 6:30 p.m. at Standley Recreation Center, 3585 Governor Drive. Cathy Romanas is chairing the event for the first time and would love to have your social capital invested in this activity.