On June 11, the Power to the Youth festival in Austin Park came and went with great success only hitting minor bumps as a first time event.

The multitude of booths erected their canopies filling the park with a variety of colors and attracted a variety of people.

Kids played in the bouncy house, the mini basketball hoop and in the sand box. Teenagers (sometimes even younger) and young adults took part in a two-on-two basketball tournament and a skate park competition (skateboard and BMX).

All ages enjoyed the music and live performances that were played on the main stage in the park. Even the tug-o-war brought a great big cheer from the crowd watching the competition. Though of course much was learned from the event making decisions that were taken, what I saw and what most seemed to have seen was that we succeed in bringing our community together.

The event offered a meaningful environment of healthy competition, local community services/businesses and solid local entertainment.

 

Throughout the event and after we've received many comments and phone calls for more, most interest seeming to come from the basketball competition.

So what's next? Do we wait one full year to re-create and enhance the Power to the Youth experience giving again a good reason to come together in the park as a community in unity? Or was Power to the Youth an experiment where we choose to let the audience of our event lead us to what the community wants and not what we believe the community may need?

Do we try to create more outdoor basketball competitions? Do we try to create more skate park competitions? Or, do we try to create a constant stage for musicians whose dream is to be heard by a live audience?

No matter what happens, I think that for sure we will continue our original idea of making this an annual event and hopefully a community tradition.

We plan on meeting soon after a week of rest and reflection. We'll let you know what we choose to do, just keep an eye out for Power to the Youth.

Thank you to all the participants of the event and to all who came to attend it as well. Events require both sides to show up to be successful.

Last but not least, thank you to Lake Community Pride Foundation for believing in us and giving us their full support to make our vision a reality.

 

Bruno Sabatier is the lead coordinator for the Power to the Youth. He lives in Clearlake, Calif.