ARCANUM—The Brick Street Block Party was created as a way for Tracy Fout to give back to his community in one of its darkest times.
“It started during the COVID-19 year,” Fout, owner of SRL-Troutwine Insurance, who hosts the event, said. “We wanted to do a meal for the local community so we got pork, hamburgers and hot dogs and gave it away for free.”
With the help of SRL employees Victoria Landis and Layne Byrne, as well as members of the village community, Fout runs the Give Thanks Foundation that gives meals to families on Thanksgiving day that are in need of food. All proceeds from the event go toward those meals.
In its first year, the block party had a beer tent, a band and was able to give away about 1000 meals to the community.
Since then, with the help of local donations, it has steadily grown into a festival the entire village looks forward to.
Attendees can stop by for games, music and food of all kinds at this year’s Brick Street Block Party.
On Friday, the block party will feature a cornhole tournament, a Little Miss & Mr. Pageant, a pulled pork meal and performances from Mora & The Boys, as well as Zeke Wright.
Saturday evening will have a softball tournament, chicken dinner pick up, poker run, golf cart parade, various live performances with headliner country singer Clark Manson, a kiddie tractor pull, night at the race and an egg drop.
On both nights, attendees can stop by for food trucks, a beer tent, children’s games, a 50/50 raffle and a s**t on-a-brick drawing.
While he currently uses the earnings for an annual Thanksgiving dinner, Fout said in the future he hopes to do something much larger.
“We’ve done well,” he said. “We did exceptionally well last year. But our goal is to actually do something big with the money eventually here as time goes on. Collaborate with the local village and see what we can do.”
He added that the festival could not be put on without help from Landis and Byrne, as well as their various community partners in the village and on the Give Thanks Foundation Committee.
The Brick Street Block Party is on Friday, Aug. 12 and Saturday, Aug. 13 in Downtown Arcanum, Ohio. For more information on the Brick Street Block Party, go to the Brick Street Block Party Facebook Page.
