The latest Block Party was a fitting conclusion to a turbulent week.
Downtown Clearwater was rocking and rolling—or, more precise, dancing to salsa, merengue, bomba and traditional Mexican music—on Saturday, September 23. The Downtown Block Party on the city’s retailing main drag, Cleveland Street, was festive and downright fun as over 2,000 people celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month.
But, wasn’t the Tampa Bay area hammered by Hurricane Irma just days ago? As this issue of Freedom explains, Scientology Volunteer Ministers, along with other first responders, toiled without pause to get Clearwater working again.
So when the work was done, it was time to continue to uplift spirits with a Block Party, the bimonthly event provided by the Church of Scientology.
The Block Party included food trucks, carnival games, a petting zoo and pony rides, face painting, a balloon artist, a caricature artist and a bouncy house that did not stop moving throughout the evening.
And, of course, there was some powerful music. The Grupo Folklorico Mahetzi (a nonprofit with a group of young Mexican dancers) performed a series of traditional Mexican dances to kick off the event. This was followed by the Church’s Flag Band performing a variety of Latin music.
A key ingredient of the party was the participation of nine organizations who work to better the community: Cole Link Foundation, New Heights Destiny Inc., Owl’s Nest Sanctuary for Wildlife, My Hope Chest, Zaksee Bird Sanctuary, Applied Scholastics Community Learning Center, Golden Age Theater, Narconon Suncoast and Polaris Disaster Response. All participating organizations and food vendors were treated to a reception in the Scientology Information Center before the Block Party started.
Put simply, the party was un muy buen tiempo.
