Strengthening the Bonds of Community

With a band playing pop tunes, cooks serving authentic Mexican food and youngsters applying gobs of face paint, nearly 200 neighbors in west Ventura gathered Sunday to celebrate community spirit.

The daylong party was held as a part of national “Make A Difference Day,” which is meant to spotlight civic involvement and neighborhood cooperation. Members of the Westside Community Council, which organized the event, said the quaint Green Plaza on Ventura Avenue was the perfect place to celebrate such values.

Several years ago, community members got together and transformed the vacant lot, which had become a hub for vagrants and drug dealers, into a respite place of palm trees, shrubs and flowers. On Sunday, young children eager for Halloween to arrive took over the plaza, making masks and painting their faces to look like ghosts.

The band played relaxing songs on the patio of the nearby Ventura Avenue Adult Center, while children there took swipes at a pinata.

In all, the day was another step toward strengthening community ties in one of this city’s oldest neighborhoods, activists said.

Philip Reed, a community council member, said the celebration’s theme--as well as the neighborhood’s intention--is obvious. “It’s community solidarity,” he said.