Lawndale resident Karen Dean walked down the middle of Old Route 66 along Ogden Avenue, recording the vintage cars lined up down the road and talking to their owners.
To her, being surrounded by her community Sunday felt good for the heart, soul and spirit.
“There’s just so much genuineness,” Dean said. “And it’s so welcoming to everyone.”
Dean attended the Firehouse Block Party for Peace in North Lawndale. The annual event, now in its 18th year, was combined for the first time this year with Chicago’s Historic 66 Classic Car Show, which featured a day of live music, food and clothing vendors on Chicago’s West Side.
The block party was free, which Dean said is important at a time when prices are surging on just about everything. Making the block party accessible encourages more people to show up and engage with one another, she said.
Eric Lindsay, owner of Lindsay’s Italian Ice cart, said he’s been a vendor at the car show since it’s taken place in the neighborhood. Combining it with the block party is a way to show that the North Lawndale community and the West Side are committed to nonviolence and community engagement, said Lindsay, who is also a member of the car show committee.
“It’s always nice to see a smile as opposed to a frown,” Lindsay, 67, said. “We have a lot of good kids, it’s just a good neighborhood. We wanted to show appreciation more, not just on the outside but on the inside. Because sometimes you can just start listening to the negative news and start believing it.”
Alma Roque, who grew up in North Lawndale, attended the event, saying it was a way to engage with local businesses and see friends from the neighborhood.
“This is community for us,” said Roque, 45.
Lawndale resident Rickey Greene said he’s attended the car show every year with his 1978 Chrysler New Yorker. Greene, 59, said he’s lived in Lawndale his entire life, and he has always been amazed by how many fascinating retro cars are in the neighborhood.
“I’m ecstatic to see everybody out here,” Greene said. “Everybody’s getting along. It’s nice.”
Tami Doig sat next to her turquoise and white 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air with her husband. She recently inherited the car from her father. While she and her husband attend the car show every year, this was the first time they displayed their own car.
Doig, 61, lives in the South Loop, but called North Lawndale home for 10 years. She said she and her husband still attend church in the area, and she loves how the block party brings many people to the community.
“It’s about bringing people together,” Doig said. “There’s so many people from different life experiences celebrating their community.”
Diego Tenorio brought his 10-year-old son to view the car show. Tenorio, 43, said his son fell in love with the various vintage cars.
“It’s been very beautiful,” Tenorio said in Spanish.