I can’t even express how lucky I feel to have worked with our team on the first ever Downtown Block Party.
Work is a funny word though because not for a second did it feel that way. It was 100% positive energy.
Erika and Dave Hansen, Peter and Vickie Van Ness, Janice, Jackie Hardy, the Council, the performers, the Police, the liquor licensing board, Donna Ardizzoni paying for the banners, Steve Noble and Ringo Tarr for helping with the lights, Cathy Tarr for donating the Downtowngloucester.com domain name, Lee Bolton for providing technical assistance, Ernie Morin with his fantastic slide show.
AMAZING!
You wanna know who else deserves much credit?
The restaurant owners who did everything we asked of them to get the permitting done and make their seating outside cool and funky.
The YMCA Street Team for helping out keep the place clean.
The Folks at seARTS that jumped on board and moved their art exhibits on Center street to coincide with the Block Party. The stores that had cheese and grapes.
The list goes on and on and on, point being that it was all GLOUCESTER PEOPLE pitching in for their own great vibe and giving of and to each other.
It was positive energy put forth from positive people, it was destined to be great from the start.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for everyone that helped out and came down to rediscover how incredible downtown Gloucester with it’s cool coffee shops, incredible restaurants and unique retailers and art scene really is.
I feel like the luckiest guy on earth as I write this.
Erika, Dave, Peter, Vickie, Janice, and Jackie -the team with the positive vision and energy to carry it out, I don’t really know how it became that we all got together for this thing but I would assemble the same team 100 times out of 100 to do it all over again.
Team Can Do, we got ‘er done.
Good Morning Gloucester 
Can do team! You made your city proud! What a great night This city really needed this and it’s only going to get better. Do I hear crab racing contest
how to make a lobster trap demo, fish fileting contest. well good luck next year see ya there!
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Wow, those are fantastic ideas!
I especially love the crab racing idea!
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Thanks for making this happen! It was a great party. I hope that this can become an (at least) annual event. A good lessons on how taciturn New Englanders can learn to embrace a more European pleasure principle. We had some friends visiting from out of town and they were thoroughly impressed by Gloucester and all she had to offer.
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So glad you had fun. It was a total team effort with lots of the heavy lifting done by The Van Ness group and The Hansen’s.
If you enjoyed it as much as I did write a nice blurb to the Times in support of more frequent one’s for next summer.
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I wanted to throw my two cents in here–the block party was GREAT! My kid and I loved it. Music, dancing, food–what fun it was! There were smiling faces everywhere.
My suggestion? Make this a monthly event–if not weekly–during the summer. I know towns all over America that do this kind of thing (Austin, TX 6th street, for example). It always helps the merchants, and gives the public a better sense of community.
Gloucester, we can–and should–do this!
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We took our brand new baby and some friends and really enjoyed it! Gloucester is happening! Rock on . . . Monthly – yes definitely!
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