In what organizers hope will become an annual affair, an event dubbed the Second Street Community Feast will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, in Langley.

Bring a potluck dish to feed three, and join with friends and community for dinner in the central plaza, everything else is provided.

Only the central plaza will be closed to traffic during the event, leaving plenty of parking throughout the recently overhauled Second Street.

The idea for the event came to Sarah Boin, owner of Wander on Whidbey, while on a walk in Putney woods with a friend talking about ways to make their world a happier, more community-centered place.

“Potlucks are always such a great way to throw a bunch of people from all sorts of cultures, backgrounds and circumstances together, while giving them a common bond…food,” Boin said. “It is my hope that the Second Street Community feast is a joyful event for our community – one that everyone is reluctant to leave, but when they do, it is with a full belly and joyful hearts.”

Sarah asked the Langley Main Street Association to help organize the event, and put the newly remodeled Second Street to good use.

With the completion of the road project in early June, the plaza provides a comfortable space for public gatherings. When the aging storm water system under Second Street needed replacing, Jeff Arango, Langley’s planning chief, saw an opportunity to reconstruct the road, improve the utility infrastructure and create a pedestrian friendly environment all at one time. Also realized was wider sidewalks, landscaping, public art space, new lighting and the creation of the a central plaza complete with benches and café tables.

Main Street was invited to partner with the city to design and install the plantings in the new garden features along Second Street. Association garden volunteers, who created the award-winning edible garden at City Hall, used their skills to created unique and colorful plantings in the new garden features along the street.

The landscape was designed by Cathy Rooks, owner of Inspired Gardens, with plants that will give a variety of color and interest throughout the year and offer some edible plants to continue the edible garden theme.

For more information about the event, email the association at mainstreet@whidbey.com or call 360-221-6686.