This was the fifth time the event was held.
HOLYOKE - Children made flower bracelets out of tissue paper and constructed colorful macaroni necklaces, while adults lounged to the beats of Ed Byrne’s Latin Jazz Revolution or checked out the various stands set up along High Street on Saturday.
Part of High Street was closed in front of City Hall for the fifth annual “Great Holyoke Block Party” sponsored by Citizens for the Revitalization and Urban Success of Holyoke, also known as “C.R.U.S.H.” Festivities took place from noon to 9 p.m., and this was the first year the event was held downtown. Usually, it’s held at Veterans Field, but because of renovations taking place there, the organizers were asked to find a different location.
Rory P. Casey, one of the event organizers, said the block party “was definitely shaping up to be one of our best.”
“Thankfully the rain held out,” Casey said.
Casey explained that the block party began as a way to bring everyone in Holyoke together.
“Whether you’re five generations or you just got here yesterday . . . We wanted to make it a party that everyone in Holyoke will appreciate,” Casey said.
The event represents the diversity of the city, from food to music.
“It’s a really great opportunity for all of us to come together on one day,” Casey said.
At the informational booth, residents could weigh in on potential questions for the C.R.U.S.H.-sponsored pre-preliminary debate on Sept. 4 at the Senior Center from 6-8 p.m. featuring candidates for mayor, city clerk and Ward 4 city council. Visitors could place a star sticker next to the questions they preferred — candidate stances on a proposed Wal-Mart store and needle exchange, as well as their vision for the city in 50 years, among others.
Children were busy at the craft stations, overseen by Rotary Club and C.R.U.S.H. members. Kallie Jarrett, 5, of Holyoke, was with her father Todd Jarrett, and numerous family members, including cousins and great-grandmother, June Jarrett. She was busy decorating a large, white T-shirt with flowers, hearts and stars that she said she would “grow into.”
Brenda I. Quinones, of Holyoke, brought her 7-year-old son, Alvin Silva. He waited to have a balloon sword made by the Rotary Club’s Christine Burns, who runs the business Clowntique.
It was Quinones’ first time attending the event.
“I think it’s great that the community gets together,” she said.
Mimi E. Wielgosz, a member of C.R.U.S.H., revealed that they dyed approximately 30 pounds of pasta for the necklace making. She said she’s had a lot of children visit the table to make necklaces and tissue paper flowers. She even had a woman tell her that she still has the macaroni necklace that her daughter made her three years ago at a C.R.U.S.H. event.
Jose Santiago, his sister Maria Rivera and Rivera’s granddaughter Jasmaly Rosado, 8, all of Holyoke, made tissue paper flowers in a rainbow of colors.
“She’s the artistic one,” Santiago said about his sister.
They helped Jasmaly fasten her creation to her shoulder sleeve.
Said Wielgosz, “It makes me so happy to have a table full of people all smiling and having fun. Holyoke is so alive again.”