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[On July 23 the Grayburn Avenue Block Club in the Leimert Park neighborhood hosted a widely attended block party over the full stretch of the two-block-long street, running from Rodeo Road to just past 39th Street. Here is an account by the block club's captain, Lynetta McElroy. She writes to us that the event was helped by a grant from the Empowerment Council West Area and CD10 of City Council President Herb Wesson arranged the permit to close the street and provided the rental furniture.]
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The Grayburn Avenue Block Party was a joy to organize and to execute because it resulted in more than 60 people who live within two long, shady blocks, eating a delicious lunch and chatting with each other with smiles on their faces. Every seat was filled by either a neighbor, friend, or law enforcement, with the latter making themselves accessible to ordinary citizens over a plate of that delicious chicken from Albertsons. Ten years ago, even long-time neighbors did not know each other. Now, residents know and mostly, like each other. We are organized. When s suspicious person parks or walks in the neighborhood, we contact each other quickly, and if the situation necessitates, I contact our Sr. Lead Officer Sonny Sasajima. To me, this is the reason why block clubs are so important--neighborliness and safety.
On July 23rd, we were all able to reconnect with each other, and to let our support networks know that we appreciate them. Some of the organizations that were represented in addition to LAPD Southwest Division:
-Council District 10
-Empowerment Council West Area (ECWA, our Neighborhood Council)
-United Neighbors Neighborhood Council (UNNC)
-West Adams Avenues Association
-Cherrywood Leimert Block Club
-FilmLA Inc.
-Metro
-City of Los Angeles' Bureau of Sanitation-Stormwater Program
-Damsels in Defense
-The Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, Troop 4625
-And of course, several members of Southwest C-PAB were in attendance
As an added bonus, our neighbor, Mrs. Hendrix, was available to take blood pressure readings. A few photos are attached.
Lynetta McElroy
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