Just one year after taking over Van Loc Vietnamese Submarines in Chinatown, co-owners Wilson Wong and William Chen got an idea. “Why not organize a block party in front of the shop?” they thought.

This idea, which became a reality on June 8th and 9th, demonstrates what two remarkable young people can do with sufficient vision and chutzpah - and lots of door knocking.

They didn’t produce just any block party, but rather a large, safe, inclusive, and vibrant one with 14 sponsors (some major ones such as ReMax, Servus, Qualico, and the Edmonton Community Foundation), 16 vendors, 19 performers, and six food trucks. As well, there were 27 volunteers who had been thoroughly briefed about safety and assisting visitors who might be unfamiliar with the inner city. The volunteers were enthusiastic. “I do it to meet people,” one said.

The closed-off space on 98th Street featured a large stage with full audio and video capability, a beer tent, and ambulance access. Wong and Chen worked with the neighbours. They arranged to rent the Ukrainian Federation Hall across the street for performers and volunteers to prepare and rest, and to have parking space in the Italian Bakery lot.

A wide range of excellent artistic performances included dragon dancing (which makes this reporter cry every time), kung-fu demonstrations, hip-hop dancers, and DJs. 

This all came together because Wong and Chen had devoted five months of their busy lives to making it happen. “Everyone deserves a Chinatown,” says Wong. They used social media to publicize, and benefited from word-of-mouth communication among businesses, performers, volunteers, and others. And as far as any problems went, their debriefing document (of course, they have debriefing) notes that “zero incidents occurred.”

Heartbreakingly, Mother Nature interfered in a major way. The weather was the coldest in the history of Edmonton for that date. As well, there might have been a larger crowd if there hadn’t been a Stanley Cup finals game in town that weekend.

Do major challenges defeat these intrepid young entrepreneurs? Not at all. The date for next year’s bLoc party is already set.

Anita Jenkins is a retired writer and editor who lives in Boyle Street.