So, Thursday was the infamous block party.

For those of you in the community who went to Commissioner Bennett to try and shut it down, the only thing you proved was your own ignorance. Gee whiz, no drugs, no alcohol, no violence. It was cracker jack. All those kids running around, eating, playing games, dancing, getting their faces painted and, best of all, climbing the U.S. Army's climbing wall.

Yes, there were lines. Lines for food, lines to climb, lines for face-painting. But, behavior was spectacular. Showing once again, give a kid a good party and they won't let you down.

Planned Parenthood was there and AIDS Council of Northeastern New York with their famous Jeopardy game. Plus, quietly tucked away in a back corner, the testing van. Seven people got tested on Thursday (each test takes 20 minutes from start to finish and is done in complete privacy) so that's two hours and twenty minutes of testing time plus set-up and take-down. In a three-hour time span, that's pretty impressive. Several late-comers made appointments to come to QUEST at a later date to be tested. This is fabulous.

I have been banging my drum for parties in our community for what feels like an eternity. But one party does not a whole summer make. There should be at the very least two a month. If everyone chips in it's doable.

And speaking of everyone chipping in, where were all the youth agencies? If you get city funding, it seems to me that part of your obligation should be to participate in functions in your own community. This block party, Craig Street from Emmett Street to Stanley Street, is no more than four or five blocks in any direction from every youth-oriented community organization in Hamilton Hill. This means both church groups and non-sectarian folks. Where were you all? Most of you didn't even send your children. This last one really bothers me. I feel that some of these religious institutions feel as if children would be contaminated by mingling with us common folk. For shame. The only two youth agencies involved were QUEST and the Boys and Girls Club. And you can be sure I made sure that our youth pitched in and helped. Some outsider (from a church that will be unnamed) kept telling my volunteers that, "You are working like little slaves," until finally one of my staff responded with, "They are volunteering to help their our community, which is more than I can say for you." Your community, dear reader, is the world, not just your own little plot of grass.

Let me tell you the story of two men. Both were presidents of the United States. One, Herbert Hoover, rose up from poverty and a hardscrabble life. He carried that background with him forever, and became a mean, stingy, unforgiving adult who trusted no one. He left little or no legacy behind.

The other president was FDR, the cigar-smoking, wheelchair-riding man who was arguably one of the country's greatest presidents. Took this country through the Great Depression, created the WPO projects and stood as an enduring symbol of helping working families and the poor. He believed in dignity and jobs. He, however, came from one of the wealthiest families in the nation but he never let that hold him back. He truly used his knowledge as a jumping off spot to leave behind the greatest presidential legacy since Abe Lincoln. And Lincoln is a whole other story, changing the destiny of a nation and rising above a background of backwoods isolation and life on the edge.

Yet today, picking up two of my girls on Bridge Street, I found them inside, behind heavy drapes. I honked and honked. When they came out, they told me they had to play inside on this beautiful, sunny day because there was a man chasing another man down the street and shooting at him.

No party here, no good time. Just fear, plain old ordinary fear and a little frisson of excitement because of danger (and glamour) of it all. "Just like being part of 'LA Law.' " These are two little girls, 7 and 8 years, already seeing much, much more of life than most of us will even be privy to. Tell me again why they shouldn't have a block party and some ordinary fun, the way all kids are supposed to?

The innocent and simple joys of Hula Hoops, and blowing bubbles and using sidewalk chalk. The small little pleasures we all look forward to so that we feel connected to others and they in turn feel a part of us.

Again, guns yesterday. This time, Albany Street, right in front of the ballet studio. Again, police cars. Again, no one caught. For two of my little girls, this is twice in one day. Twice since school let out. All on a sunny, warm afternoon. What kind of party is this? It seems to me we need more, not less, of good, happy moments in this area. And those who would deny small children normal childhoods are not thinking clearly. It seems they are not thinking at all. If violence is the norm in children's lives, they will grow up believing in nothing else. If they see no future but guns and drugs and prostitution (not to mention gambling and dog fights), then they too, knowing no other alternatives, will turn to what they know. What is familiar is what is safe. And if their sense of safety is colored by gunfire and street brawls, that is how they will choose to conduct themselves, and who can really blame them?

Consider a secure and joyous childhood. The largest and cheapest and best investment that Schenectady can ever make. What is a rose garden or a fancy new restaurant next to the life of a child?

Viva La Party
Up with Singing and Dancing
May all our streets be decorated
with Chalk Drawings
And all our children dwell
in Peace and Harmony