Midtown Council to Hold Block Party

If you live in midtown Ventura, throw some chairs, blankets and a picnic lunch in the car and head over to the Midtown Super Block Party on Sept. 13.

MacMillan Street, which runs in front of the old Washington School, will be blocked off between Main and San Nicholas streets until 4 p.m. for the neighborhood block party.

The free event will feature games for children, entertainment, a firetruck display by the Ventura Fire Department and an Art Car, designed by Ventura artists to look like a giant bug.

The block party is the first for the fledgling Midtown Community Council.

“We’ve now formally organized,” said organizer Karen Flock. “We’ve had a couple of business meetings, so we thought we would like to do some fun community activities. This is the first one.”

The council, which held its first meeting early this summer, will hold its September meeting at the block party.

The new neighborhood organization was formed to address the interests and concerns of residents and businesses in the area bounded by Crimea Street and Sanjon Road on the west, the Ventura Freeway to the south, the hillside to the north and Mills Road to the east.

Members of the community council modified their original western boundary of Ash Street when they adopted their bylaws. Midtown Community Council President Bill Barbee said the group considered residents in the western area to be more concerned with the downtown.