PETROLIA — Located in northeast Butler County between Bruin and Karns City, this small borough was not known for holding events in recent years.

Then resident Dan Kistler had an idea and approached the local officials.

“I went to a council meeting a few years ago and I said, 'Could I have a party down here?'” Kistler said Saturday.

“What I wanted to do was start a community event with art and music and food.”

Kistler, who is one of the organizers of the Petrolia Music and Arts Festival, said the idea became a reality and the festival decided to partner with the community effort to improve the borough's park.

It is also held in cooperation with the Petrolia Volunteer Fire Department and ambulance service, which is raising money to move its headquarters into a bigger building.

Now in its fourth year, the event included a well-attended car cruise with live music on Friday night and live music, food, craft vendors and activities for children on Saturday.

The event included a 50/50 raffle and an auction whose proceeds will go to projects at the park.

Kistler said some residents of the borough were at first skeptical about having an event.

“Very few people wanted to get involved at the start and now a lot of people are helping out. I would recommend this to any small community,” he said.

Cinda Six, who is co-owner of Boltz's Uni-Mart and a member of borough council, said she has been working with other volunteers since 2007 to get new equipment and improve the borough's park located off Argyle Street.

Back then, the park had a small playground, a basketball court and a seldom-used baseball diamond.

Thanks to fundraising, grants from Butler County and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and sponsorship from nearby businesses, the park now has a new playground area, fitness stations, a sand Gaga Ball pit and a 0.1-mile walking trail.

Six said the park is meant to be a benefit to not only residents of the borough, who only number about 200, but also anyone who lives in the area.

“I'd like to get the word out that it's here,” she said.

And the work at the park is not done. Six said she hoped to raise about $1,400 from this year's festival to put toward several future projects. Installation of a swing set is still incomplete and Six said she would also like to have the park's picnic shelter wired for electricity and to have drainage work done to prevent some areas of the park from flooding in heavy rains.

Anita Orozco of Petrolia said she has two children who use the park and originally made the suggestion to get a Gaga Ball pit.

Gaga Ball is a game played with a foam ball that has similarities to dodgeball.

“It's a game all the ages can play and it's nice that the kids made a suggestion and were involved,” Orozco said.

The Petrolia fire department ran a concessions stand at the festival.

The department is working toward raising $750,000 to renovate the former Riverside Market grocery store into its new fire hall, Chief Charles Barnes said.

The store had been vacant for more than 20 years and in 2012, the Community Development Corporation of Butler County purchased it and wired the building for electric service at a cost of about $500,000.

It was then donated to the department with the expectation it would be developed into a new fire hall.

The department's current building is too small for its equipment and needs. Its plans call for a larger garage space, a new meeting hall and more adequate room for the paid paramedics, who staff the building 24 hours a day, Barnes said.

They cover about 120 square miles, which includes several chemical plants, Captain Elmer Mitchell said.

Last year, they went out on more than 200 calls, but they are always in need of more members.

“It will better the community for us to have more room for everything and be able to bring in more people,” he said.

The department hopes to have the project completed within two years, at which time it would sell its old building.