As the new president of the Bellflower Youth Club, Tyler Davis is striving to help put on some engaging events for the Bellflower community to enjoy.

“I grew up in Bellflower my whole life,” Davis said. “I have a six year old daughter and I’m trying – with the help of all of the members and not just me – to get it back to where it’s a fun place to live and kind of what it was when I was a kid for my six year old daughter. It’s my ultimate goal.”

The Bellflower Youth Club is holding a big event on July 4. It is teaming up with Hicks Store to hold the Fourth of July Celebration, which will include a parade, bounce houses, barbecue, a baby show and Hicks Store’s celebration of 80 years in business.
The parade will start at 3 p.m., instead of noon like it was in the past.

“Last year, the parade started at noon, then the event started at either 2:30 or 3,” Davis said. “So we thought, ‘Why have a parade, then have people stick around for two hours for nothing?’ So let’s move everything back and start at 3 and just have an evening thing instead of trying to do it all day long.”

Hicks Store has been a popular spot in the Bellflower community and Montgomery County since it first opened in 1946, offering groceries, hardware, electrical and plumbing items, houseware, farm supplies and lumber.

Davis said the Bellflower Youth Club wanted to hold the Fourth of July celebration and the Hicks Store 80th anniversary at the same time to make it more of a community-wide event.

“We’re here for the community,” Davis said. “It’s not us versus you, so they are going to work with us.”

Davis leads a 13-member club that includes vice-president James Eveland, secretary Alyssa Oden and treasurer Jessica Arens. Most of the members are new to the club.

“It’s been around for a long time,” Davis said. “The guy who used to be in charge of it and his wife stole a lot of money, so it’s a whole new group of people in the youth club now. I used to be a member of it when I was in high school, then I got away because I didn’t get along with them. So now it’s a whole new group of people.”

The club held a community meeting on March 26 to discuss ideas on what it will take to help Bellflower grow in the future. In April, it held a bingo night that drew 65 participants. In August, the club plans to hold a garden tractor pull, an antique tractor pull and a free water day in the park for the children.

Davis said the club has been heavily promoting its events on its social media pages.

“You might see more things on Facebook because we’re pushing in trying to do stuff for the youth compared to what used to be done,” said Davis, a 2010 Montgomery County High School graduate. “Last year was the first year we did a movie in the park. It was around Halloween last year and had free hot dogs and hayrides for kids.”

For more information on the Bellflower Youth Club, email bellfloweryouthclub@gmail.com or visit its Facebook page.