Spirit of Lowertown Week kicks off Sunday

(ABC 6 News) – Rochester Mayor Kim Norton proclaimed the week of Aug. 21st, 2022 as Spirit of Lowertown Week, in remembrance of Aug. 21st, 1883, when a mile-wide F5 tornado destroyed old Lowertown.

Sunday, community members gathered in Goose Egg Park for a potluck to celebrate how far the neighborhood has come. Mayor Norton attended the event, and met with neighbors to read the proclamation aloud for the neighborhood.

The proclamation honors the neighborhood and residents say they are proud to live there.

"This helps just show that the spirit we all know we have inside, it’s here, it’s active and even in hard times when it’s hard to remember that," said Lowertown Neighborhood Association President, Benjamin Zastrow. "This demonstrates and shows us it’s still here and it’s within us all and this is a fantastic neighborhood. We have a lot of great people here who help each other out and who really care about the community."

The Lowertown neighborhood was founded in 1857 by Mayor Charles Lindsley and sits directly north of downtown.