New Bever Park Neighborhood Association in southeast Cedar Rapids hosts party, bike parade Sunday

A new neighborhood association in Cedar Rapids’ southeast quadrant will kick off activities with a party from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday in Bever Park featuring live music, food vendors, city vehicles, and a bicycle parade.

The Bever Park Neighborhood Association (BPNA) formed over the summer to promote civic engagement and park stewardship in an area within a 15-minute walk from the park. To enable Bever Park-area residents to get to know each other, the neighborhood party Sunday will include music by the Czech Plus Band and the Heavy Metal Tuba Band, food vendors Aroma Pizza and One More Bite, and vehicles on display that include a firetruck and Humvee.

Nearly 40 years ago, children’s bike races were held in Bever Park. This Sunday, a bicycle parade will begin at 5 p.m. at the park. Participants may, if they wish, decorate their bikes and come in costume.

BPNA goals include supporting city efforts to maintain and improve Bever Park with additional amenities and trails, advising the city on neighborhood concerns, and supporting roughly 800 residents who live in areas adjacent to Bever Park. Through the summer BPNA trails group successfully cleared the Quarton trail, from derecho damage, reconnecting the park to Cottage Grove Avenue SE. The BPNA area is bounded roughly on the east by 34th Street SE; on the south by Soutter Avenue, Meadowbrook Drive, Memorial Drive, and Bever Avenue; on the west by a diagonal running from Forest Drive and Bever Avenue to the intersection of Cottage Grove Avenue and First Avenue SE, and on the north by neighborhoods immediately off Cottage Grove Avenue and Country Club Drive SE.

BPNA is in the process of developing a leadership structure, approving bylaws, and establishing tax-exempt status. Through its Neighborhood Service Delivery Initiative, the city of Cedar Rapids has encouraged formation of neighborhood associations in recent years.