Blue Dasher Boulevard, in the Summerlyn Village subdivision, was buzzing Saturday evening with a live band, pizza and tasty treats, and plenty of fun for kids.
This wasn’t just any street party though, it was organized by Bradford resident Joe Giordano and his neighbours—known as the Blue Dasher Street Party Collective—as a way to both bring the community together, raise awareness for speeding issues in the area, and fundraise for a local family in need.
The party was limited to people from Summerlyn and thanks to sponsors, everyone who registered got a free slice of pizza, ice cream, cotton candy, popcorn, and a bottle of water.
“We started out just doing something for the community, but we’re going to make a substantial donation to a neighbour,” he said. “The whole point was for it to be a community building thing, but now with sponsors paying for stuff, people are giving their money to a needy family around the corner. It’s a win-win-win across the board."
The music was provided by Giordano’s band, Dad Bods, who are made up of neighbours from Blue Dasher—the band played on a stage in Giordano’s driveway. It also included a talk from South Simcoe Police Staff Sgt. Dave Phillips about speeding.
“It’s been an evolution from how myself and my friends started this, and I just like to take things to another level,” said Giordano. “It was 100 per cent a combo of myself, neighbours, and close friends. The biggest frustration was that Bradford just isn’t prepared to do stuff like this like in other communities—for example, Newmarket would have rented me their stage.
"So, I used my contacts across different industries to do this. The key is that I did it all with a team, everyone helped take care of stuff and it brought the community together. It became a coalition of community. I may have started it, but the coalition is who elevated it and helped me get here.”
The idea was birthed out of the struggles of the pandemic. When Giordano and his family first moved to Bradford a few years ago, they began having get-togethers with their neighbours, but when COVID hit they weren’t able to bond with the residents of Blue Dasher the same way.
“After the first year, around the September long weekend, I opened my garage doors and our band decided to start playing,” said Giordano. “The response we got was fantastic and we decided we’d do it again the next year. So, that next year we were barbecuing and playing to our neighbours.”
With the success of the first two outings, Giordano and his neighbours decided they wanted to take it up a notch this year, and after putting together a petition for speed bumps on Blue Dasher that received over 270 signatures in June, he thought it would be a good way to incorporate awareness.
“After the petition, I had so much success that I became almost like the ambassador of Blue Dasher and then the ambassador of Summerlyn,” he explained. “So, I thought we could pursue doing the street party, and one thing I’d taken from the councillors was they said despite everything I’d been trying to do for speed mitigation, some of it is on the responsibility of the community.
“Based on that, I decided the best way to address it would be to have everybody together to meet and greet. Simcoe Police’s Dave Phillips was extremely supportive because he said once you meet everyone in the neighbourhood and you know where they live, you’ll respect them more with speeding and it will help with other crime issues. That’s when we decided to do it.”
The party was meant to bring everyone in the area, regardless of age, together and had over 22 youth volunteers with seniors representing a third of the crowd.
“We wanted to do something because COVID made things really boring,” he said. “There were also a lot of kids who have been homeschooled for two years, so as they go back to school, they don’t know the kids in their neighbourhood and they don’t have that community. We wanted to build community together. Building the sense of community together has to do with everyone. We’ve got plenty of kids and seniors, and we’re trying to accommodate everyone.”
With the success of this year, the Blue Dasher Street Party Collective plans to do it again next year.
“I spoke with all the members that were part of the team that put this on and they were very happy with the results and community involvement,” said Giordano. “I had so many people stop by that night or the following day to thank all of us and to tell us they met so many people they didn’t know previously.”
Sponsors for the event:
Great Gulf
Modular Precast Systems
The Mortgage Partners
Total Plumbing & Mechanical
Magical Events
BMS karate
Minerva's Creations
Pizzaville
Master Appliance
"As the main sponsor, we love and believe in our community, neighbours, where we work, live and raise our children," said Kash Toor of Mortgage Partners.
We believe in diversity, which is what drives us all to be able to work and live together.
"A very special thank you to all of the hardworking volunteers and sponsors, and to the hardworking band who delivered a fantastic show: singer Nicco Harper, bass player Domenic Garisto, drummer Jerry Ledo, Joe Giordano Guitarist and Kash Toor Lead guitarist. We look forward to the planning of more events to bring the community together and build together in the future."
