By David Cruz 

On the latter part of the summer, street festivals dot the Bronx landscape. Over the weekend, the streets along a portion of Bainbridge Avenue closed for a second consecutive Sunday for a festival that marked community pride while beckoning memories of yesteryear.

The fourth annual Summer Streets 2014 inspired hundreds of neighbors to break their weekend routine and stroll about Bainbridge Avenue, the winding corridor which police closed off to pedestrians from 204th Street to Decatur Avenue. The car-free streets made way for an event marked with raffles, a bouncy castle, a drum line band and musical performances. The event was sponsored by the East 204th Street & Bainbridge Merchant’s Association, the group that’s been highlighting the corridor. Eli Garcia has served as president of the association for four years.

At its core, the festival served as promotional meet and greet for merchants along Bainbridge Avenue, where merchant organizing has taken place to promote the vitality of the commercial strip that’s home to an eclectic blend of mom and pops restaurants, variety stores, and big chain retailers.

“I try to really patronize as much as possible, even though I can leave the community. I drive,” said Arce, a Norwood resident. Standing near the stage, Arce has longed for the strip to welcome a book store or an outdoor café, but admitted that the current demographics “won’t allow it.”

But Benjamin Alvarado, the proprietor of Tropical Pets, has seen an uptick in economic activity over the past 20 years with “bigger and better stores” peppering the strip.

In the past 20 years, the neighborhood has seen an economic shift. Longtime Norwood neighbors remember the area as a neighborhood of saloons, where regulars forged strong community bonds over a few drinks.

“Right here used to be the Dugout, you had Maguires. Across from Maguires you had the Roaring 20s. You had Molly’s,” said Benjamin. “They were all Irish bars.”

Benjamin’s wife Janice has noticed that the area is “up and coming” these days, with more stores opening up these days.

For many the festival served as a way to prop up the neighborhood, where a sense of community pride has dwindled when compared to the days of yesteryear, according to neighbor Sirio Guerino.

“Outside of the home they just treat it like they don’t live here. Just because it’s outside their apartment doesn’t mean you don’t treat it like your house,” said Guerino, a Norwood resident for over 20 years. This was his second visit to this year’s Summer Streets.

The week before, Guerino sat hunched over a table in front of Beso Lounge vying for first place at the festival’s first-ever hotdog eating contest. He took first place thanks to his “frank and bun” strategy of separating the two ingredients. He picked up at that play at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island. At the festival, Guerino showed off his pride at winning against five other contestants with a makeshift hot dog belt buckle his daughter custom made.

But Sandra Pabon, another lifelong Norwood resident, sees a diversity shift that’s helped improve the character of the neighborhood. “There’s a different variety that feeds a melting pot, not just any melting pot,” said Pabon, who hopes next year’s festival will continue to put a face to the merchants.

“Some people don’t know their business owners,” said Pabon. “[Customers] need to venture out.”