{"id":245186,"date":"2012-07-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-07T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/local-businesses-share-the-love-at-south-park-summer-walkabout\/"},"modified":"2012-07-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-07T07:00:00","slug":"local-businesses-share-the-love-at-south-park-summer-walkabout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/local-businesses-share-the-love-at-south-park-summer-walkabout\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Businesses share the love at South Park Summer Walkabout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Business district will host the colorful community-wide event on July 14<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Monica Garske |\u00a0<\/strong>Reportero SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks to ongoing efforts by the South Park Business Group (SPBG), the streets of South Park will be buzzing with activity on July 14, when the community hosts their Summer Walkabout. The SPBG organizes the seasonal events, held multiple times throughout the year from 6 to 10 p.m. on selected Saturdays.<\/p>\n

\"Local
Attendees visited Halcyon Tea at a previous Walkabout. (Photo by Adam Greenfield)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marsha Smelkinson of the SPBG said the evening festival is meant to highlight the unique shops, art galleries and restaurants bordered by Beech and Kalmia streets between 30th and Fern streets in the South Park neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Dozens of South Park business owners take part in the community events, offering specials and activities throughout the evening to visitors strolling around the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe offer guests a free walking tour of the neighborhood starting at 6:30 p.m. It departs from the information kiosk on Juniper Street. There is also a free trolley service circulating into South Park,\u201d Smelkinson said.<\/p>\n

The theme for this month\u2019s walkabout is \u201cSummer of Love,\u201d and Smelkinson said many of the business owners participating in the festival plan to dress up in 1960s hippie costumes to \u201cspread the love.\u201d Attendees are welcome to dress up, too.<\/p>\n

Smelkinson said a highlight of the event will be the second Beech Street BBQ, a casual curbside barbecue co-hosted by Hamilton\u2019s Tavern, Alchemy Restaurant and Grant\u2019s Marketplace. The outdoor grilling area was a huge success at the Spring Walkabout in March, Smelkinson said, so the organization decided to bring it back for a second round.<\/p>\n

South Park business owner Karen Blair, who co-owns Hamilton\u2019s Tavern on 30th Street with her husband, said she is helping to host the Beech Street BBQ because they are happy to be a part of the neighborhood. \u201cThe barbecue is a great way for us to get involved in the walkabout,\u201d Blair said. \u201cWe sold out of food in less than two hours at the Spring Walkabout, but this time we\u2019re prepared with lots of extra food.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blair said her restaurant will grill homemade \u201cHops Sausage\u201d and pulled-pork sliders street side while mingling with neighbors and celebrating the South Park community.<\/p>\n

Likening the walkabouts to a neighborhood \u201cblock party,\u201d Blair said the festival gives people a chance to truly explore South Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou might end up walking in a new direction you\u2019ve never walked before and discover a really cool shop or restaurant you never knew was there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A new hair salon on Beech Street, Oliver\u2019s Hair Design, will add to the party by hosting a live reggae band as well as an art show, while Baby Garten Studio on Fern Street plans to host free classes and activities for children throughout the evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people think of South Park as a very cool, hip neighborhood, but we\u2019re also a very family-friendly community,\u201d Smelkinson said. \u201cThese Walkabouts really bring everyone together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melanie Michaud, who owns Graffiti Beach on Fern Street that specializes in products created by emerging local designers and artists, said she hopes attendees stop by her shop once again.<\/p>\n

Michaud opened her boutique on March 24 \u2013 the exact day of the Spring Walkabout \u2013 and said it was the busiest day she has had thus far as a business owner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had more than 500 people walk through our space last time. It was amazing. As a new business owner, I really love the community vibe of this event and the fact that it gets people in the door,\u201d Michaud said.<\/p>\n

Though she is relatively new to the South Park business district, Michaud is already contributing: Smelkinson credits Michaud for coming up with the \u201cSummer of Love\u201d theme.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was inspired by the loose-fitting, hippie-style merchandise we\u2019ve been selling lately,\u201d Michaud said. \u201cAs part of the theme, we\u2019ll have an artist from New York in the store that night, hand painting long boards and skateboards and another artist from Orange County selling prints, candles and knick-knacks that go with the whole Summer of Love theme.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about the South Park Summer Walkabout, visit southparkscene.com<\/a> or call 619-200-4269.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business district will host the colorful community-wide event on July 14 By Monica Garske |\u00a0SDUN Reporter Thanks to ongoing efforts by the South Park Business Group (SPBG), the streets of South Park will be buzzing with activity on July 14, when the community hosts their Summer Walkabout. The SPBG organizes the seasonal events, held multiple […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Local Businesses share the love at South Park Summer Walkabout","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}