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June 8 - A record number of locals turned out for yesterday evening's free
BBQ on Main Street. The neighborhood gathering was organized by the year-old Ocean
Park Association and hosted by The Victorian and Duck Duck Mousse Catering.
OPA President Joel Brand said the caterers ran out of food after feeding 700
people and "There were a lot of people who showed up and said they didn't
get a chance to eat -- "I know I didn't," he said. "We and the
gracious folks from The Victorian were shocked at how many people turned out.
This is a wonderful demonstration of how vibrant a community we have in Ocean
Park. I don't know of another neighborhood in the city where 700 people turn out
to an event for which we emailed out only about 300 invitations. There was clearly
a lot of word of mouth about this."
Word spread to Santa Monica's
political establishment, with four of the city's seven council members in attendance,
including Mayor Pam O'Connor, Kevin McKeown, Bobby Shriver and Robert Holbrook
as well as former Mayor Mike Feinstein who was seen getting his picture taken
as he handed a $20 bill to people at the OPA table.
The owners of Duck
Duck Mousse catering, which operates The Victorian, said they hosted the event
to "give back to the community." Offerings included a choice of chicken
or ribs with corn on the cob and, of course, beans. Vegetarians could pick from
an array of salads, and the selection of desserts ranged from cookies to wedding-class
cakes.
In addition to the free food and the chance for neighbors to meet,
OPA set-up boards with post-it notes to gather resident's opinions about what
they like about the neighborhood and their concerns. More than 100 written comments
gathered, including these:
- "Stop the volume of home construction."
- "Feed
the artists, not the homeless. Make Santa Monica beautiful."
- "More
affordable housing."
- "More green space."
- "Preserve
the little community in the big city."
- "No more big buildings
on Main Street."
OPA was founded in June of 2004 by a group
of Ocean Park residents concerned that the disintegration of the Ocean Park Community
Organization had left the neighborhood without a voice at City Hall just as the
General Plan update was beginning. "We've consistently had large turn-outs
[for] our monthly meetings, but we had close [to] around 150 people stop by our
table tonight to talk about neighborhood concerns. That's a tremendous amount
of interest and I look forward to seeing that turn into an even stronger voice
for Ocean Park," Brand said.
For those who missed the event, there'll
be another one next year. |
