Hundreds of people gathered for the city’s inaugural Fourth of July Community Picnic featuring music, games and food. The event, held at Roxbury Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., was part of Beverly Hills Mayor Sharona Nazarian’s initiative to celebrate national holidays.
“Our job is to fill the voids that we see,” Nazarian told the Courier. “We’ve never done a Fourth of July celebration, so this was one of my initiatives that I wanted to launch … we did Memorial Day, we’re doing the Fourth of July, we’re going to do Veterans Day. We want to be able to bring the community together in all different ways.”
In a shaded section of the park behind the library, six booths were set up. Several offered snacks and water; several offered information about parks and city services, and one was set up by the Boys and Girls Club with a sign reading “Kindness is Free.”
Near the booths, small children played in a grassy area outfitted with oversized Connect Four, Tetris and cornhole games. Niki Dickman, 30, was in attendance with her family, including her 18-month-old son. Dickman said that she heard the event from her backyard and decided to come see what was going on.
“It’s great,” she said of the occasion. “It’s one of the perks of living in Beverly Hills. [I love] seeing the community come together.”
Close to a DJ booth playing dance hits that encouraged participants to get up and move, residents Lorraine Ross, 86, and Marvin Taff, 91, enjoyed the event’s sights and sounds.
“We love coming to Roxbury Park,” said Ross, a 32-year resident of the city. “It’s an environment [where] you feel younger and playful and happy, most importantly. It makes us happy to come here … the music inspires me.”
Many Beverly Hills police officers and firefighters were in attendance, and Ross noted that she appreciated having the opportunity to thank them for their service.
“They’re the ones that protect us,” she said. “We all feel gratified for what Beverly Hills offers us, living here as residents.”
The event was part of the city’s “Parks Make Life Better” initiative, a series of activities taking place throughout July. The initiative kicked off on July 3 with Concerts on Canon, and will feature a Family Bingo Night on July 11, a Senior Luau on July 21, a live performance of Julius Caesar and more.
In addition to celebrating national holidays, Nazarian’s mayoral initiatives include a focus on seniors and young people, spotlighting small businesses, improving safety measures and uniting the city.
Resident Cynthia Hajjar, 51, said events like the Fourth of July picnic do just that.
“It is important to try to find the time for these kinds of community events,” she said. “Our community is our wealth, and we’re very grateful to our City Council and Mayor for organizing gatherings like these … these events unite us.”
Shahla Bonyadi, 70, who is originally from Iran, became a U.S. citizen just days before the picnic. She said she saw a stark difference between the accessibility of elected officials in Beverly Hills and in Tehran.
Noting that her favorite part of the day was speaking directly with Nazarian, Bonyadi said that communicating one-on-one with a government representative would not have been possible in her country of origin.
“[Nazarian] is very sweet, she is very kind,” Bonyadi said. “She participated and talked to the people like a normal person. In our country, the mayor — you shouldn’t touch him, always bodyguards, security, and you can’t talk or say your problems about the city. I love this.”
This kind of togetherness and unity is what Nazarian hopes to promote during her mayorship.
“Beverly Hills is such a large community, and there’s so many different pockets that many don’t even know about,” she told the Courier. “It warms my heart to see that we are touching all the aspects of Beverly Hills that make our community so fantastic. We are bringing our seniors together; we see little kids waving their flags; we’re in the park enjoying our green space and coming together as a community. I love it. I really love it.”
