By TAYLOR CALDWELL
Reporter at Ward Media
LEAVENWORTH – The rain stayed away at the Aug. 22 Community Block Party, bringing together a record number of residents for an evening of food, activities and community engagement.
“We see so many people and it’s getting more every year. That’s what community is all about, right? The opportunity to come together and have fun together,” said Mayor Carl Florea.
The Community Block Party is part of the city’s quarterly Community Engagement Nights and began in 2019 as a way for the city to bring the community together, promote local initiatives and foster a sense of neighborhood camaraderie.
The city estimates that between 700 and 750 people attended, compared to an estimated 400 participants last year. City council members and city officials donned orange gloves and white aprons to serve residents 362 hamburgers, 40 garden burgers and 400 hot dogs. The event featured kid-friendly activities such as a water slide, a bounce house and cornhole.
In addition, there were a total of 16 tables featuring businesses, organizations and projects from the community. At last year’s event, there were about four tables, most of which showcased city projects, said Executive Assistant Sue Cragun.
“In the first one, there were just a couple of city projects, and it was all on the street. It didn’t feed into (the Osborn Playground) like we do now. So it’s grown with both city projects and now community projects… People have a chance to learn about all the different things that are happening,” Florea said.
The city hired Waste Loop to help organize a “virtually zero-waste” event. Amanda Close, Waste Loop’s education and outreach manager, provided the bins and provided information about which items could be composted or recycled. Close estimated that 46 percent of the event’s waste was composted, or 36 pounds, and 41 percent, or about 32 pounds, was recycled. Only 13 percent, or 10 pounds, ended up in the landfill.
“There’s a lot of waste generated at events. Instead of sending it to the landfill, the things that can be recycled are recycled. The things that can be composted can be brought to Winton (Mfg.) and composted on site,” said Amanda Close, education and outreach manager at Waste Loop.
Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or [email protected]
