Pros of first Trussville Downtown Block Party outweigh cons

By Megan Miller, Editor

TRUSSVILLE – The first ever Trussville Downtown Block Party took place Saturday, August 13.

The block party was a chance for the community to visit downtown businesses and interact with business owners, while participating in sales, specials, raffles and giveaways. Businesses stayed open late and offered everything from snacks, to face painting, to inflatable obstacle courses and freebies.

Ashli Watson Posey with Tula J Boutique said she was happy with the turnout, and it far exceeded her expectations.

“It was so great to see our community come together and support our downtown merchants,” Posey said “I loved seeing the streets filled with families and neighbors walking the sidewalk, going from business to business enjoying the evening.”

The Trussville Downtown Merchant’s Association met Tuesday morning to recap the block party, making a list of pros and cons so they could better the next event.

The Merchant’s Association said they intend to have restrooms better marked next time, and also need to make changing areas for babies more prominent, also adding more trash cans. Additionally they intend to add barriers between the food trucks and the roads, to keep citizens safe. Finally, food trucks will be more spread out, so specific areas of downtown won’t be so congested.

However, there were far more positives than negatives. Members agreed that the music and food were great, and they were able to visit and purchase from businesses they hadn’t visited prior to Saturday.

“We had lots of foot traffic in our store, which generated an increase in sales and lots of those being new faces,” Posey said. “This is exactly why we chose to be downtown. We wanted to be in the heart of this community, and be a part of the growth that we hope will continue.”

The next Downtown Merchant’s Association event is tentatively planned for October.