MARIETTA - For 25 years, Marietta City Councilwoman Annette Lewis has lived on Frasier Street near Summit Avenue in Marietta. In that quarter-century, much has changed in her Ward 1 neighborhood southeast of Marietta Square, between Roswell Road and the South Loop.

But perhaps the more obvious changes have been new housing construction, such as the foreclosed Manget development, and more ethnically diverse residents, particularly Hispanics.

"Our neighborhood is in continual change," Lewis said.

On Saturday, the Loop Group, a Marietta neighborhood association that attempts to reach across ethnic, cultural and economic divides, conducted its 12th annual Loop Group Neighborhood Block Party on Lakewood Drive between Frasier Street and Alexander Circle.

The goal of the party was to bring neighbors closer together, given the community's demographic changes over the years.

An estimated 200 people were expected throughout the warm afternoon. A live band called Metro Quest banged out tunes from the front porch of a house; while a diverse group of residents talked over plates piled high with an assortment of homemade foods, from hamburgers and hotdogs, to tamales and fajitas. Their children played together under the watch of city police, fire and other personnel who visited.

"This is surprising that people still do this stuff. So many people kind of keep their boundaries," said Antoinette Ortega, 41, who moved in December to Grogan Street with her family. "But this is wonderful."

The Loop Group also sponsors an annual Christmas parade, during which gift bags and candy are delivered to children. Former Ward 1 city councilwoman Betty Hunter founded the organization about 17 years ago. She said the block party was started to bridge cultural differences and has had success.

"We needed something to bind the whole neighborhood together, where we could appreciate each other more," Hunter said while serving tamales, a favorite with many of the partygoers, from a pot.

More and more Hispanics are starting to move out of the neighborhood, according to Lewis. But it continues to be a mix of ethnicities, ages and professions.

"We're very eclectic. We're very diverse," she said. "You have houses that were built in the early 1900s to those that were built in 2009."

Cheryl Richardson, 49, has lived on Grogan Street for three years. Asked if such gatherings were bringing neighbors closer, she responded: "I hope so."