VENTNOR – What a perfect day to get outside and enjoy some family fun along the avenue. Ventnor Special Events held its annual Spring Block Party Saturday on Ventnor Avenue between Portland and Troy avenues.
Although it was only three blocks long, more than 90 vendors lined both sides of Ventnor Avenue selling everything from handcrafted and upcycled crafts to dog treats and home improvements. Children enjoyed blowup rides and remote controlled cars set up along a side street. Little girls waited patiently for their faces to be painted, and young men and women lined up to BYOB (Build Your Own Bouquet), selecting from multi-colored roses to design the perfect bouquet.
“I’m getting a bouquet for my mom for Mother’s Day,” one teenager said.
Deanna Ruiz, who helped to organize the event, said the city hosted many new vendors this year, mostly new food truck offerings and crafters.
Word must have spread pretty far among the vendors, as one baker brough his loaves of artisan bread all the way from Long Island, New York.
“It’s such a beautiful day,” Rich Hopkins of Ventnor said. “The fact that I can walk a few blocks down Ventnor Avenue and see all these people is great. I ran into a lot of my friends.”
His wife Susan said she enjoyed shopping the vendor offerings.
“I bought some magnets,” she said, showing a Phillies, Eagles, Batman, Penn State and U.S.M.C. magnets. “I got the U.S.M.C. one for my nephew who’s going into the service.”
It was hard to recall exactly when the block party started.
“It had to be the year after you were elected,” Special Events Coordinator Donna Peterson told Commissioner Maria Mento, who was strolling the avenue with family. “It was sometime after 2017.”
The event started with just 40 vendors and has grown each year to become the premier opening of the summer season event.
Next up in Ventnor is next Sunday's Chef’s Night Out, a dine-around that raises money for Ventnor Beautification Committee.
Ventnor Beautification has amassed funds from several years of Chef's Night Out events and in June will present the city with a $100,000 donation toward the new bandshell under construction at the city's Newport Avenue beachfront park.
Chairwoman Shelley D’Orazio said the organization sold more than 400 tickets this year. Sorry folks, it's already sold out.
"You have to get your tickets early," D'Orazio said.
Ventnor held it annual spring block party, Saturday, May 10, 2025 on Ventnor Avenue between Portland and Troy avenues.
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