Our annual Arnett Block Party
yesterday was a wonderful success in spite of the HEAT, thanks to the generous participation of so many amazing volunteers and contributors.
We’ve already been having a very hot and dry summer, but the weatherman was predicting sweltering heat and possible thunderstorms for our Block Party so we were a little concerned. Sunny skies kept the thunderstorms away, but we got the heat – up to the mid-90s!
So many marvelous people were involved in making our day a success that it will be hard to list them, but I’ll give it a try. Our setup crew arrived early and up went the tents! Then Jasper unloaded his grill, the basketball hoop went up, R Community Bikes and the Rural-Metro ambulance arrived, and we closed off Arnett Blvd. between Warwick and Rugby. Tom Stefano got the music going, Richard Stutzman rolled onto the premises as Happy the Clown, our raffle table got set up, a crowd began to gather, and the party was on! By early afternoon all our booths were open; facepainters Maive, Kristen, and Victoria were artistically decorating many eager faces; Lisa McElroye was giving free back massages, and Victor the Magician was ready to wow the crowd with his amazing show. We knew we were in full gear when Mitzie Collins and Tom Bohrer had us all in thrall with their Punch and Judy Show!
Special thanks go out to Nancy, Rora and her daughters, and all the other faithful members of the Arnett Block Association whose tireless planning, preparation, and free food service made the whole event possible; to the City of Rochester for letting us block off Arnett Blvd. and sending several RPD officers, including Chief Sheppard, and Officer Deirdre Hammond who signed up nearly 100 kids with Operation Safe Child; and to the Rural-Metro Ambulance squad who joined us for the afternoon, giving dozens of kids a chance to investigate and actually climb up into a real ambulance!
Overwhelming gratitude goes out to R Community Bikes for their generosity in fixing one bike after another all afternoon, to City Councilman Dana Miller for his lively performance as our Master of Ceremonies, to Deb DeCaire from the Monroe County Office of Traffic Safety for organizing and running our Bike Rodeo and fitting kids with free bike helmets, and to all our sponsoring merchants who provided us with so many generous donations and raffle prizes.
We’re also especially grateful to Michelle, Linda, Alison, and Dee for running our Grace Family Medicine and Embracing Options booths; to Deb Leary from the Arnett Branch Library for their free book booth and kids’ story time; to Cynthia and who gave out prizes; to Leighanna who kept the kids entertained with games and helium balloons; to Robert Matthews for setting up and running an energetic hoops competition all afternoon; to Topher Holt who got the kids all caught up in music and rhythm; and to Doug Smith, together with Rochester Youth Outreach and Grace Community Mission, for all their help and the wonderful tribute they paid to our Lord by leading us in open worship before our God and Maker at the close of the afternoon.
Remarkably, everyone pitched in and helped, so even the cleanup was a breeze and by 5 pm you never would have known the event had happened. Already folks are talking about “next year’s Block Party.” Just give us a little break and then call if you’d like to help! God bless you all!
