Hundreds of locals gathered on Lillian Way for July 4 holiday
FELIX NEWELL-PAPAZIAN (3 1/2 years old) and his dad, Steve Papazian, watch the fireworks.
It was 1997. “Men in Black” topped the box office, and Lilith Fair was the new Lollapalooza. On Lillian Way in Hancock Park, another defining moment would change history forever: “A few of us dragged our barbecues into the street for the 4th of July and grilled hot dogs for each other,” recalls resident Evan Corday, now a mom of twin teen boys.
Twenty-seven years later, the annual Fourth of July Block Party attracts hundreds of locals, a taco vendor, fire trucks, bouncers, a bike parade and face painters. Local businesses help underwrite the event.
Corday, along with a trusty cohort of Lillian Way neighbors like me, have kept this traditional celebration alive every year — even during COVID-19. (In 2020, a handful of us, wearing masks, gathered to eat cupcakes at a safe distance from each other.)
This year, the tight team of organizers, including Jordana Brown, Edward Didlock, Michelle Newell, Alden Oreck, Jeffrey Yates and Jessica DiCicco, came together in May at Corday’s dining room table to restore the block party to its former, pre-pandemic glory. The street, a block west of Rossmore Avenue, comes with its own fireworks, courtesy of the spectacle at the nearby Wilshire Country Club.
NEIGHBORS enjoy the day.
“We need community now more than ever,” says Lillian Way resident and block party co-planner Meaghan Curcio, who festooned her lawn with dozens of flags and hosted friends. Clearly, locals agreed: At 5 p.m. that day, dozens of families arrived to check in and let their kids taste independence. (“Go play!” said a chorus of parents.) The street was blocked off to cars — thanks to city permits — so it was a safe zone reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting.
CLIVE CURCIO, right, won second place in the watermelon-eating contest.
Kids savored their freedom too. They dashed off to an inflated obstacle course, as adults feasted on carnitas tacos at rented tables and chairs. Around 7 p.m., it was time for the bike parade, musical chairs and a water balloon toss. This year, a watermelon-eating contest rivaled the Olympics in competitiveness. “I might barf,” moaned one dad.
DYLAN YATES leads a bike parade.
For the first time ever, local businesses pitched in to add financial support. After the sun set, the party shuffled to the end of the block for fireworks. “I can’t wait until next year,” one kid whispered to another beneath a pyrotechnic rainbow in the night sky.
FINN DIDLOCK gets his face painted.
Written by Monica Corcoran Harel
Category: Real Estate