Editorial Editorial (April 30, 2004)

Looking forward to First Wednesday

With sizzling salsa and Latin music filling Main Street, the Pleasanton Downtown Association will kick off a fifth year of First Wednesday street parties next week that you won't want to miss. These events are always among the most popular of the PDA's creative and exciting programs that attract thousands of Pleasanton families to the city's historic downtown each year. If the unseasonably early summer temperatures continue, next Wednesday's "Cinco de Mayo" celebration that launches the 2004 season of five consecutive First Wednesday parties could attract as many as 8,000 participants. This strictly local festival gives downtown and Tri-Valley businesses and local artisans a chance to show off their wares and services, with nonprofits also participating to talk about their work in the community. It's a night of fun, entertainment and real hometown camaraderie for the Pleasanton community, which can check out first hand the restaurants that make the city a favorite dining destination.

Building on this First Wednesday's "Cinco de Mayo" theme, both music by the popular Latin band Cantera and decorations along Main Street between St. John Street and Old Bernal Avenue will feature the flavors of Mexico and Latin America, Returning this year will be a small Farmers Market with favorites such as specialty vinegars and oils, cut flowers and a variety of food products, as well as Twee-Twee, a long-time favorite at the regular Saturday Farmers Market. Face-painting, a bounce house and a drop-zone ride also have been booked for the children's area at Main and Angela streets. Along with entertainment, the street fair will have more food vendors than ever, offering a wide variety of ethnic and international foods as well as tasty tri-tip sandwiches and teriyaki barbecue as many of the downtown eateries move some of their favorite menu specialties curbside.

First Wednesday street parties have an added significance this year as downtown businesses, like those across the country, recover from several troubling recessionary years. With the PDA's marketing and promotional savvy, they are looking forward to an economic resurgence from increased pedestrian traffic on downtown streets and customers with more buying power. They will be helped by the organization's new executive director Christine Salidivar, who has years of experience with business support groups, and by veteran PDA office manager Frances Hewitt and event coordinator Pam Murray. Already they are looking at ways to market the downtown to the hundreds who regularly attend the Friday night concerts in Lions Wayside Park, just a block away. Those concerts start June 4 with an appearance by The Raving Daves, a rock 'n' roll dance band comprised of Pleasanton's own PeopleSoft Corp. employees.

Although beefing up downtown promotional events, the PDA has wisely cancelled two others. Last year it stopped holding the popular Hot Rod Heaven car show downtown after surging crowds numbering over 35,000 hiked crowd-control concerns and would have cost a 10-fold increase in liability insurance. This year, the PDA pulled the plug on its three-year-September Rib Cook-off. Like the car show, it attracted thousands, but few downtown shoppers or diners. Smoke filled many of the stores and, after a day of eating ribs and other barbecue specialties, few stayed around to dine at downtown restaurants.

Heritage Days, another popular downtown event that dates back to the early 1980s, also won't be held this summer. Once a strictly local event, staffed by volunteers and featuring handmade crafts, homemade preserves and locally stitched, sewn and quilted merchandise, it became highly commercial, run by out-of-town promoters and catering to vendors from throughout the West. The PDA is working with a consulting group to restructure Heritage Days into a more local event with vendors who will complement but not compete with downtown stores. It hopes to have the new Heritage Days event back on its schedule in 2005.

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