Westview Ratepayers Society is urging neighbourhoods throughout the city to participate in a block party day on July 7.
At the City of Powell River Council meeting on June 6, Robin Murray said he was representing the society, and at its last general meeting, there was a resolution to present a proposal on an initiative called Block Party Day, on July 7.
“We’ve heard so much over the past many months that there is a lot of division in town and it has been mentioned a number of times that it’s not just city council’s responsibility, it’s everyone’s responsibility to help out,” said Murray. “We have two initiatives going and what I am going to talk about today is block parties, because they are fun and they bring people together.”
He said the first one he participated in was 25 years ago when he moved into his current residence in the city. He said most of the people in the neighbourhood had built their houses, raised their families, and were seniors.
“What they did the very first summer we were there is they had a reunion and invited people, like the kids and the families who used to live on the street, back to the avenue for a weekend party,” said Murray. “They invited us. It was so much fun to get to know these people who grew up there, raised their families there and we got to meet the people who built our house.
“The block party brought everyone together. A few years later we did one at the end of our block, got everyone together and had a barbecue and a picnic. We enjoyed the evening and had some music. It was a good way to get to know people and build friendships. We’ve done that a few times over the years.”
Murray said there was discussion at the ratepayers meeting and a decision was made to promote a day for block parties throughout town.
“Any way we can bring people together is a good idea,” said Murray. “We’re here to encourage people to have a block party and get to know their neighbours.”
Murray said the ratepayers want to help people put their parties on, such as letting people know what they need for a successful event.
“It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive,” said Murray. “The best parties are usually the potlucks where everyone pitches in and helps out. We want to help bring people together.”
Councillor Trina Isakson said the city previously had block party funding available but there was perhaps an issue with insurance. She asked staff to update the status.
Director of parks, recreation and culture Jamie Bretzlaff said the city is actively searching for solutions.
“We are finding that our insurance provider does require us to have insurance if we are supporting parties,” said Bretzlaff. “That insurance is proving to be more and more costly. When we first started this we’d hold upwards of 20 parties a year with our $5,000. Now, it would definitely be under 10. We are trying to search for other creative solutions now and we see this event on July 7 as a massive opportunity to inform decisions on how we could support things on a completely different level than we have in the past.”
Councillor George Doubt said there was a block party program run by parks and recreation for a while. He said one of the Townsite ratepayers groups has had a block party for the past couple of years and it has been done in association with a garage sale, which has been successful. Doubt said block parties are a great idea.
Councillor Jim Palm asked if the city still had its block party trailer and if it was available for pickup. Bretzlaff said the city still has the trailer but it is not insured. He said it has the capacity for one party at a time.
Mayor Ron Woznow then proclaimed July 7 as Block Party Day in Powell River.
Join the Peak's email list for the top headlines right in your inbox Monday to Friday.
