After school, Susie Cerf visited her father at his store, Southern Clothing and Notions Company on Water Avenue. She enjoyed watching customers come in and out and observing the businesses of the area.

But, decades later, what she sees is not the same vision of her memories.

“It was just booming,” Cerf said. “It was so fun. And then you see it now, and you see what it really could be.”

Cerf is in town for the Bloch family reunion this weekend, but before she could relax and enjoy Selma, she called a meeting Thursday with influential leaders in the effort to renovate and revive the town.

“The reason to call the group together was to brainstorm and to get a lot of things out on the table to see what is going on,” Cerf said. “It was to start a conversation. It’s a start.”

She met with leaders such as Sheryl Smedley, director of the Chamber of Commerce; Fran Pearce, ArtsRevive member; Gavin Moon, director of special operations of the St. James Hotel; Patty Sexton, historic preservation and revitalization coordinator and Charlotte Griffeth, director of planning and development.

The group discussed the city’s revitalization and renovation plans for Water Avenue and along the Alabama River. Without community support from those in Selma and those linked to Selma, improving the community will be a slow process.

Sexton suggested that Cerf and those with roots here find ways to assist the community, even when they live in another state or country.

“We don’t have a lot of families coming back and maintaining [Water Avenue] properties,” Sexton said. “We’ve had a lot of successful people leave Selma, and not come back, that could make a contribution without even living here.”

For this reason, the Bloch family chose to hold their family reunion in Selma this weekend. The family wanted to support the town and remind themselves of their history.

“We want to pass on to future generations after us where their roots are,” said Barbara Fine, reunion coordinator. “This is important that our generations and generations behind us know where they came from. We can’t take them back to the old country [Bavaria, Germany] but we can take them to Selma. Not only were their ancestors good to the city, but the city was good to them.”

The Bloch family came to Selma in the mid-1800s. They were prominent businesses owners and were involved in city government and civic organizations. The family owned Southern Clothing and Notions Company, Bloch Brothers Hardware and the Selma Naval Foundry and Ironworks, all on Water Avenue. Maurice Bloch also brought a minor league baseball team, the Selma Cloverleafs, to Selma in the 1950s. The team belonged to the Southeastern League, but ended when the league went out of business in 2003.

The 54 family members are visiting Selma from places such as Texas, Georgia, Indiana, California and France. None live in Selma anymore because the family moved away throughout the generations.