Mitton Street in Sarnia’s Mitton Village is opening for pedestrians only Saturday, as a grassroots group holds its annual block party.
Mitton Street in Sarnia’s Mitton Village is opening for pedestrians only Saturday to let a grassroots group holds its annual block party.
Eight bands are playing and vendors are lining the street between Kathleen Avenue and Wellington Street. There will also be plenty of prizes, a children’s area with face painting, a dance party and water balloons, said Chrissy McRoberts, one of the organizers with the Mitton Village Citizens Collective.
In its first year, the community party aimed at instilling pride and breathing life into the downtown-adjacent neighborhood attracted maybe 500 people, said McRoberts, owner of Dog Eat Dog.
“Last summer, we crushed it,” she said. “There had to be somewhere around 3,000 people throughout the day coming out.”
Previous years have made use of sidewalks, she said, with musicians and artists in front of stores to draw people inside.
Taking a cue from downtown street closures for Sarnia First Friday and Weekend Walkabout events, the Mitton Village Block Party is embracing the street-closure format this year, she said.
“Anything to draw people down to know that Mitton Village is growing and becoming vibrant.”
Vendors don’t have to be from the residential and commercial district, and anyone is welcome to come check out the event, which runs from 10 am to 4 pm, she said.
A recently awarded $522,000 contract to Sev-Con Paving to redo the Mitton Street parking lot and add a parkette for public events, along with decorative concrete paving and new street light poles, is another example of ongoing investment in the area, she said, as is a city Community Improvement Plan grant program for downtown and Mitton Village businesses.
“I’m definitely pleased” to see the development, she said.
The grassroots group, which includes six core members, is working to keep the momentum going, said McRoberts. She’s also a member of the Mitton Village community development advisory committee and one of nine municipal candidates for a Sarnia city/county council seat in the Oct. 24 election.
The collective is focused on building a strong community and canvasses neighbors to help engage them, she said, noting there are longtime neighbors and also new families in the area.
Storefronts are lit up at night to help people feel safe while areas are kept free of debris, she said.
“We want more people to walk. We want neighbors to be neighbourly,” she said. “We want to rely on each other for communication, safety, and encourage shopping in our own Mitton Village area, including the farmer’s market.
“We need to get back to spending more time with everyone that’s here around you then spending time driving in your car to somewhere else, to another city. We have to support our own.”