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Bill Rapp made Chevy Chase View's Everett Street into a neighborhood, and every year to remember him, the neighbors make it into a party.

Rapp, remembered as always willing to lend a hand, share a beer or tell a joke, died in September 2007 of liver cancer, leaving an observable void in the neighborhood. But at the third annual RappFest block party on Saturday, the squeals of children on a moon bounce and music from a bandstand in the middle of the cordoned off street were a clear sign his influence remains.

"It's very much the essence of my husband," said his wife Cathy Rapp of the giant block party, which this year raised more than $14,000 through donations and a silent auction for the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University Hospital. She said her husband loved to be around people, so several hundred of them gathered for a hotdogs, cotton candy and laughter would delight him.

"He would enjoy it so much, it feels like he's still alive," she said.

Neighbor Dawn Forsberg remembers Rapp as "Papa Bill," the man that served as a surrogate grandfather to her two small daughters, leading them around the neighborhood by the hand to look at flowers when Forsberg needed a mother's break.

Bill Rapp would sit on the back porch, which affords a view all the way down the east side of Everett, and look for opportunities to interact with his neighbors, Forsberg said.

"He sat up on that porch and he would overlook and you'd be unloading groceries and all of a sudden you would feel him behind you," Forsberg said, offering to carry her groceries in. "He was just a really calm, kind soul."

Bill's son Kevin Rapp remarked in his father's eulogy that Bill Rapp was such a considerate guy he chose a Redskin's bye week to die so Cathy Rapp, a diehard fan, wouldn't have to miss a single play.

Forsberg said because Bill Rapp was always greeting neighbors along the street, other neighbors would soon come over to chat and impromptu lawn gatherings would occur regularly. Everyone knew him and welcomed him into their home.

"He probably had about three dinners a night because he would go and eat at everybody else's house," said Kevin. "The whole reason the neighborhood exists is Dad."

He was a breakfast regular in Forsberg's kitchen, and she's still hasn't adjusted to making fewer eggs.

"To this day I still open up the garage door and I wait," Forsberg said. "I still wait."

Bill Rapp's deterioration came fast; he was diagnosed in May 2007 and died the end of September. But Cathy Rapp said he helped the family and the neighbors through it, calling all his friends to say goodbye and telling everyone what a full life he lived. He was in attendance at the first RappFest, and it has been held in his honor ever since.

Kevin Rapp said at the first event, his father "hung out, talked to people, enjoyed hanging out with everybody. He knew at that point he had terminal liver cancer and he helped us through it and everyone through it by living his last days to the fullest."

Last year roughly 400 people attended the event, which raised $10,000. Kevin Rapp said he expected this year's final attendance to be even bigger. Forsberg said she had a friend plan a vacation around RappFest, and many who come never even met Bill Rapp.

Chris Baer of Virginia, enjoying the barbeque and music on Saturday, said he met Bill Rapp a few times and thought him "one of the nicest men you've ever met." He said the block party was a fitting remembrance.

"It's what summer's all about, it's Saturday afternoon, it's 90 degrees and breezy, there's a kid zone, there's hot dogs, there's beer."