Lineberry Alliance Blogs

National Night Out 2008 was a BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!   

Where to start…watermelon, ice cold water, door prizes, goody bags, a jail, Bubba, a DJ, games, a watermelon cake raffle, policemen, firemen, kids in costumes, neighbors, neighbors and more neighbors!   

We were once again blessed with one of the hottest days of the year, but that didn’t stop the people from coming out. 

Sheila did an awesome job coordinating the event this year.  She started early in June inviting Raleigh Police Department, Raleigh Fire Department, Wake County Sheriff’s Office, and even a couple of TV stations.  She coordinated with the NNO national team snaring some fans, whistles and Frisbees.  She worked her magic locally and secured door prizes and goody bag items from Food Lion, Grocery Boy Jr., Lowes, The Peddlar Steakhouse, Target, Wal-Mart, Southeastern Acoustics, and Capitol Coffee. 

There was BINGO, Name that Tune, Dancing, pictures with Bubba.  You could investigate the police car and the fire engine.  The kids had a costume contest and won trophies, gift cards and more.  Poor Bubba, with his jail issue stripes was forced to sit in jail.   

They gave me a mic, which was both good and bad.  I asked the kids about the fire truck tour they took and what firemen wear.  Zander let us know what kind of sound a firetruck makes. 

Our local law enforcement talked for a few minutes, answering questions and getting us caught up on what was going on around the city.  We got a lesson in gang identification.  The Sheriff’s Office passed out ID kits to the parents. 

The firemen got a call about five minutes after pulling in.  We (ok I) requested they leave with siren and they did!  The greatest thing was about 30 minutes later they came back and stayed the rest of the night!  It was awesome!  One of them is a pretty good Name That Tune player. 

I loved seeing the people.  There were over 50 neighbors in attendance.  For some, this was their first Community Watch event.  One couple had lived in the neighborhood for 40 years!  One of the first timers even signed up to be a Block Captain. 

It was evident by the attendance, donations and the linking of MVP cards that our Community Watch is supported by the people that live in the area.   

The best part of the night?  Next to the people, it had to be when the law enforcement/fire vehicles pulled out with lights and sirens blaring!  Bet that had some people wishing they were down there with us! 

Every year this event gets bigger for us.  I’m looking forward to National Night Out 2009! 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 4:03 pm and is filed under PRR-Watch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.