By Shannon Delmarco
On September 4th, seven Emery Village residential buildings gathered for a celebration night at a community block party hosted by Medallion. More than 2,500 residents from the Emery Crossing development celebrated the local community. It featured a resident-led marketplace, musical acts, kids’ activities, and flame-grilled food from local vendors.
The marketplace had booths with numerous residents’ small businesses, including craft goods, home-baked desserts, financial management tools, women’s clothing, and a local charity organization. Residents could browse and purchase goods while mingling with other residents in the building.
Food was provided by Caribbean Queen Jerk (3408 Weston Rd), who served more than 2600 portions, including jerk chicken, BBQ chicken, fried chicken, hot dogs, and hamburgers. No meal is complete without a sweet treat and a steady line at the ice cream truck handing out cones and slushies proved the night was no different. More than 1450 cones served during the three-hour event meant approximately eight cones per minute
North York Soccer Academy held soccer games for kids, balloon artists crafted flowers, animals, and alike for kids of all ages, and face-painters had kids donning art resembling skeletons, princesses, and animals.
The music set the tone for the night with resident DJ, DJ Super O, spinning everything from 80’s hip-hop to current Top 40 hits to keep residents grooving all evening. A very special performance was put on by resident Ian McRae and his band Batucapoeira – who also led a demonstration for kids interested in learning more about Afro-Caribbean drumming techniques.
The event was a great celebration of the Emery Village community, and a very special acknowledgment goes to all the wonderful resident businesses and musicians, Ethereal Brand, Cleanse & Covered, Delusion.OX, LetsBakeIt!, Sweet Time Together, Elmira Children’s Foundation, North York Soccer Academy, DJ Super O, and Batucapoeira.