Clayton County’s Oakwood Trails’ Neighborhood Watch and Community Outreach Initiative will celebrate its “13th Annual BackNSchool Back2Basic Block Party Jam and Parade” this weekend in Rex.
The event, set for 3:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, in the 3400 block of Oak Leaf Court in Rex, will have the theme “It Takes An Entire Village: Neighbors Helping Neighbors.”
“This is all about bringing out unity, which are the last five letters in the word community,” said Carol Yancey, a coordinator for the organization. “This is about bringing awareness.”
The event will focus on a plethora of subjects, including voter registration, history, school support, music, and interactions with law enforcement and firefighters. About 500 people are expected to attend.
Joseph Ector, president of the neighborhood watch at the Pines Trace at Pebbles Creek community, said he’ll be doing some of the cooking for the event, manning the grill for barbecue chicken, ribs and sausages that are so good “you don’t need no sauce,” he said.
“This is a good event that allows people to get to know their neighbors,” said Ector, whose community had a similar gathering in June. “This is all for the fellowship.”
Yancey said this is the first year the event will take place fully since the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be gifts and prizes for children and a drum line from Morrow High School is expected to perform.
“OTNHW’s Annual Block Party is a community event designed to strengthen residents’ ability to unify in a peaceful manner by coming together as a neighborhood to educate, equip, encourage, empower and celebrate our various cultures and backgrounds to achieve our vision, she said.
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