Bloc party: On August 29th we had our bloc party. This was the third one and it was a hit. As with any party. There was music dancing people and kids had fun playing in the street without worrying about getting hit by moving cars because the street was blocked Still,bloc parties do not just happen over night. You don’t just get up one Saturday morning and decide to block streets to host a block party. Continue reading below to learn how to host your own block party.
Form a Block Association:
How do you do that? You round up a few people in your immediate neighbor. Appoint yourself or one of them as Block President,sign the application form from your community block office, and you have a bloc association. Now it’s up to you to conduct bloc meetings but, you must have a bloc association in place. And, now that you have a bloc President you can move on with bloc party planning.
First thing on the agenda is to secure a street permit for your bloc party event. If you are in a situation where association members are not active or too busy for meetings you can do the planning. Three months in advance of your bloc party you need to start the application process. Our bloc party was August 29th so, late May our bloc President was down at the office getting the paper work together . You either go online here SAPO to create account if you are new or start filling out online application or you can visit your community bloc office for a paper application.
The application is not complicated. They give you various time frames to choose from and alert you of dates you can’t choose to host your bloc party. You are also required to get signatures of every household on the bloc. For our second bloc party while getting the signatures we ask residents to donate money (what they can afford, $ and up). This money was to provide food or school supply or activities for the kids. Maybe a rented bouncy toy that the kids could jump on, a clown to give the kids blown up balloons or you could make a deal with the ice cream truck guy and have those kids on the bloc get a free cone. Funding donation is not a requirement, it’s just a suggestion. We did the ice cream truck and it was a success. Kids on the bloc were given coupons ( type used for raffles) that they presented to the ice cream truck and it worked. Without the coupons other kids would have to purchase ice cream.
So back to the application. When it is completed you submit the form along with $25 application fee. The paper application that you receive from the office with all the signatures has to be taken to the office. We selected 11am to 8 pm for our bloc party and the police department provided several no parking fliers that said no parking from 10 to 8 pm> Also, you choose whether you want sidewalk or the full street. We always choose full street because it’s less worries. With absolutely no cars on sidewalks or the street it makes for a safer bloc party for everyone.
It is the bloc president’s duty to inform bloc residents of the bloc party. We made fliers which were delivered to all residents like few weeks in advance. On the Wednesday before the bloc party police issued no parking on Saturday signs were posted on trees and poles on the bloc. This past bloc party,one resident was issued a ticket because he was too slow in getting his car off the bloc. The street was already cleared off of cars except for his. Guess some people like to learn the hard way. So make sure that people are aware of the bloc being cleared of vehicles for your bloc party.
On the day of the bloc party, the bloc president tied balloons to everyone’s gate and hung flares on poles. Then he blocked both entrances of the streets. First, the kids came out and then families began setting up. Some set up barbecue grills on sidewalks as well as front gates. All in all it was a blast. People danced in the streets,kids roamed the streets. There was even a Hustler who did not belong to our bloc with his little bag trying to make a quick buck selling little toys and gadgets that kids go crazy for. All in all it was a fun day for all .
Later, in the day, the Firemen came and opened the hydrant for the kids who were elated. You can see them in the video having sprinkler fun.
Bear in mind that the bloc president or whomever is in charge has to be present on the bloc at all times.
Around 7:45 the bloc president went around pulling down flyers and balloons and unblocked the street for traffic. All in all our bloc party was a huge success. Next years’ bloc party will be even better.
Now that you have read how we hosted our bloc party here’s hoping that when you plan your own bloc party it will be a huge success.