“Shack” Sign Shows Way To West Hills

West Hills Alder Honda Smith couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate her 60th birthday than with a bright new sign welcoming guests to a Valley Street community center — and a parade and festival celebrating the neighborhood she calls home. 

Music, banter and fun flowed from West Hills Community Center, better known as ​“The Shack,” at 333 Valley St. Saturday afternoon. The sign unveiling took place after the West Hills Community Parade, the first parade of its kind in the neighborhood which featured 12 organizations, according to parade organizer Keerome Lawrence.

“Next year we’re gonna do it a little bit bigger, a little bit better, but I’m glad I was able to execute it so we can show people what’s possible with the support of community,” Lawrence said. 

After the parade, Arts & Ideas hosted its West Hills/West Rock neighborhood festival at the adjacent former West Rock STREAM Academy property at 311 Valley St. on Saturday afternoon.

Sitting on the side of The Shack after an eventful performance was Willow House, her sister Mia Brown and their cousin Journey Brown. Resting under the shade, they enjoyed some ice cream, while reclining comfortably in their lawn chairs. 

Willow, 11, and Journey, 12, said they had fun during the parade holding up the banner for The Shack, while Mia, 4, proclaimed her favorite part of the parade — which started at Valley and Blake streets — as all of the dancing.

When asked if they would participate in the parade again, the three girls didn’t hesitate to say yes and have a chance to showcase their West Hills pride once more. 

“We’re coming out next year!” Mia said, holding up a big thumbs up.

Marching alongside Willow, Mia, and Journey was their grandmother Cythronia Brown. A longtime resident of West Hills, Brown said that she has seen the community grow and wanted to show her granddaughters ​“it was enlightening for them, because they were a part of something.”

“I’ve been in this community since 1985 and it’s a beautiful thing for the community to come together,” she said after the parade, watching the activities in front of the Shack.

Brown emphasized the community spirit of West Hills and that there’s a lot more good in the neighborhood than people assume. 

“They only report the bad things, but they [the public] don’t see the good things, and there’s a lot of good things going on in our neighborhood,” she said. 

To Brown, the parade shows the community’s resilience and pride. 

“This is the start of many [programs] for us to come together and thrive together and see what the neighborhood needs and what the community needs and take it from there.”

Another group in the performance was the 40+ Double Dutch, a sisterhood for women over 40 to help with mental and physical health. The group meets every Saturday from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Dixwell Q House, said Taneha Edwards, captain of the 40 + Double Dutch New Haven SubClub.

40+ Double Dutch members Fredericka Grant, 54, and Tina Foreman, 57, said they showed up to Saturday’s parade and festival to ​“give people hope.” 

“I joined 40+ Double Dutch last year looking to involve myself more in community events and this was a great day! We all came outside, we all worked together, we had fellowship,” Foreman said. 

Edwards, 48, second that statement.

“I love seeing all of us united, and I loved seeing the kids,” Edwards said. ​“The kids had a great time, lots of smiles, and you can tell that they were all in their element.”

Edwards also expressed gratitude to Alder Smith and attributed her civic engagement as a main motivator for participating in the parade, wanting to celebrate Smith’s efforts of neighborhood vitalization.

“Outside of being an Alderwoman, she goes above and beyond, and definitely represents the West Hill community to the fullest, even when it comes out of her own pocket, which is a really, really big part of her,” she said.

“It’s been a long time coming for The Shack to come back,” Smith said in an address to the audience. ​“We’ve been waiting for over 30 years to do something like this in our community. For so long we have been isolated from the other side of the communities and no one wanted to do anything around here. We only have one way in and one way out. But nevertheless, we’re back.”

Smith went on to emphasize community engagement and the importance of collaboration. 

“After we finish with this sign reveal, we’re gonna have the biggest dance line ever. So whoever ready to dance, be ready to throw down because you know why? It’s my birthday and I’m ready to dance!”

The inspiration for a new sign came when the Jamaican American Association (JAC) partnered with Harriott Home Health Services, a health care service based in Hartford, to host a program at The Shack. The problem was however that participants had difficulty finding their way to The Shack.

“One of the things that we discovered was that no one could find where The Shack was,” said Karaine Holness, president of Jamaican American Connection. ​“And they put it in a GPS and it took them downtown. And when people came in, [and] it says ​‘You’ve reached your destination,’ people didn’t know where they were going.”

Thus, Holness took the issue to the JAC board who voted to create a sign. JAC’s commitment to West Hills doesn’t stop there, with Holness saying that they have plans to distribute food and meals to neighborhood kids throughout the summer. 

“We are part of the community. We have been here and we’re going … to be here continuously over the summer and beyond,” Holness said.