By Kadie Gurley
Hundreds of people gathered at the new Lincoln Park to bring awareness of services and businesses at the Celebrate Downtown event in Downtown Long Beach on Thursday, March 24.
Organized by the Downtown Long Beach Alliance (DLBA), six food vendors were handing out food to over 600 guests to give a taste of what their business has to offer. Romeo Garcia, chocolatier and owner of Romeo Chocolates, was one of the six businesses at Celebrate Downtown and gave input on what impact the event makes to the community.
“It is a day to celebrate all the local small businesses,” Garcia said. “All the folks are doing really positive things in our community.”
Garcia shared how there are many elements to celebrating Long Beach and its diversity along with recognizing our differences.
“All the different communities and the different pockets of community organizations are coming together,” Garcia said. “Also, to see the potentiality, what is the opportunity for us to continue our work is important because there could always be more efforts for us to collaborate on things like this. I want to make sure that we are honoring the heritage and community of Long Beach to add to what is already here.”
DLBA were the coordinators of the event and strived to not only celebrate businesses, but bring awareness of the services they offer in the downtown area. Stephanie Gonzalez, placemaking manager of DLBA, presented some resources available.
“We have different kinds of initiatives,” Gonzalez said. “We have a clean and safe side which is our team called the ambassadors. They keep downtown clean. There are safety ambassadors who can help with things like escorting you to your cars as well. People can bike, walk, scoot, and have places for dogs. There are so many things we have to offer.”
Being named after President Abraham Lincoln, the new park is an attraction that has a large playground, skate park, workout area, dog park, art work of Lincoln, and is beside the Billie Jean King Main Library.
There were five main activities going on around the park like free dog training at the dog park, fitness program F45 giving free workout classes by the fitness area, self-defense, and scholar’s collective where there were activities for kids. There were lawn games being held on the grass as well.
Seven people tied with organizations were acknowledged by receiving a “Spirit of Downtown” award for their work on making a difference and bringing spirit to Downtown Long Beach.
Mike Berman, DLBA Community Manager, discussed why it was a perfect time to have the event.
“Since this is a newly opened park, we thought it was a great time to do it,” Berman said. “There is nice weather, daylight savings, and it is beautiful out here. Our new marketing campaign is ‘Your downtown, my downtown, our downtown.’ We are trying to build more community spirit for everybody. Addressing the homeless, our unhoused neighbors, we want to make sure they have a voice.”
Started in 2012, the occasion had to pause activities for two years due to COVID-19. With cases dropping, outdoor events are slowly coming back.
“The mask guidelines have been less restricted, people are more comfortable, and it is outside so we just wanted everyone to come together,” Berman said. “We just think this is a great way for kids to learn and go out there and be a kid.”
Lincoln Park is located on Ocean Blvd. and Pacific Ave. and is open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information on DLBA and their services, you can visit their website.
