Dogtown Wire

The theme for National Night Out 2008 is “Give crime a going away party.”  Held the first Tuesday in August each year, National Night Out is, according to Matt Peskin, Executive Director of the National Association of Town Watches, “…a wonderful opportunity for communities nationwide to promote police-community partnerships, crime prevention and neighborhood camaraderie.”

National Night Out began in 1984.  It was organized by the National Association of Town Watches.  The vision was a national program, but one coordinated on the local level.  That first year, 400 communities in 23 states participated.  The program has grown steadily over the last 24 years.  In 2007, over 35 MILLION people from 10,325 communities participated.  These communities ranged from big cities to small farm towns in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  Two Canadian Provinces are participating, as are a number of colleges and universities, and even military bases both at home and abroad.

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In North Little Rock each year, seven to eight organizations participate and are supported by the Department of Neighborhood Services.  This year, the following organizations have announced events:

Glenview Neighborhood Association, 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. on Glenview Blvd., Activities include: Guest speakers, special presentations, Fire Department Smoke House, Music by Selah4Praise, food and more fun.

Meadow Park Neighborhood Association, contact Lynn Welsh, 945-4776. 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Bethany Baptist Church located on the corner of Bethany Road and Eureka Garden Road. Activities include: Picnic style event. Free food, door prizes and children’s games.

Lakewood Neighborhood Group, contact Beth White. 758-2738. 6:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. in the 4000 block of Glenmere. Activities include: a selection of “summer fun” foods. Target Stores are sponsoring food, giveaways, prizes and gifts. The Broadway Stars return and the 1st ever Lakewood Dog Show will be held. Police and firemen will be guests of honor.

Sherman Park Neighborhood, contact James Lawson, (evening) 375-2127. 6:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.Sherman Park Recreation Center. on the east parking lot of Seventh Street Elementary facing the

Keeping it Real; Young Community Advocates and Baring Cross Neighborhood Association, contact Ruby Machelle Steward Brown, 626-0938. 6:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m., at 15th and Crutcher Streets/Vestal Park. Activities include: vendors, motivational speakers, water slide, and a moon walk for the younger children. A Caribbean band “Fire and Brimstone” performing. Ras Levi and ICI will be D.J.’s. Free hot dogs, hamburgers and water. Baptist, Red Cross, voter registration and the fire truck will be on hand.

*NLR COP Alumni. 6:00 p.m. until  8:00 p.m., NLR Downtown Police Substation, 201 East Broadway. Activities include: open house at the new downtown police substation.

*Park Hill Historic District, 6:00 p.m., 3421 North Magnolia. Activities include: meet and greet, learn about the newly formed association, enjoy a hot dog or two.

*North Little Rock Boys and Girls PAL Club, contact Rico Bennett, 907-5387, 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., 400 Rose Lane. Provided by the McGruff Grant the Youth Safety Corp will be providing the following activities: games, food, photo ID booth, face painting by the Mayor’s Youth Council, police and fire will be there.

Tuesday, August 26 - Melrose Outreach, contact Margo Tenner, 372-3810, 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m., Melrose Park. Activities include: a Hawaiian theme.

As you can see, each organization is free to choose what kinds of activities to have based on the unique needs of that particular neighborhood.  To quote the National Night Out website, “National Night Out has proven to be an effective, inexpensive and enjoyable program”.  These kinds of programs promote neighborhood spirit and strengthen police-community partnerships to fight crime and create a safer city for all of us.  If your local community group isn’t participating in National Night Out, one question you should probably be asking is, “why not?”

Writer’s Note.  This article was written based on information from the July/August 2008 issue of North Little Rock Neighborhood News as well as information from the National Night Out website (http://www.nationaltownwatch.org/nno/index.html).  The list of participating organizations was obtained from the Department of Neighborhood Services via e-mail, but this article was not submitted to the Department, or to anyone else in North Little Rock government for their approval or editing prior to submission.  The author is not a city employee.

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