4B | WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2022 | SIUSLAW NEWS | NATIONAL NIGHT OUT
police • community partnerships Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022 | 6 to 9 p.m. Miller Park, 1651 18th St.
O
n Tuesday, Aug. 2, Florence Police Department is holding its fourth annual National Night Out (NNO). This fun community event brings thousands of families to Miller Park in Florence for an evening of safe activities, free dinner and snacks and getting to know local law enforcement. The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. NNO is a community-police event in the United States celebrated by over 16,000 communities for the past 38 years. The event is meant to increase awareness about police programs in communities, such as drug prevention, town watch, neighborhood watch and other anti-crime efforts. “We just want to educate everyone in the public,” said Florence Police Department Executive Administrative Assistant Jamie Gorder, who plans the NNO event for the area each year. Florence Police Department will be providing hot dogs and hamburgers, chips, cotton candy and soft drinks at no cost to the public. There will be a variety of giant inflatable play structures and kid games with visits by police officers, City of Florence Public Works, city staff, firefighters, the Coast Guard and paramedics. In addition, local community groups will be in attendance, offering resources and information as well as other activities for families. Local youth will be able to get their face painted, have a balloon animal made and interact with local first responders. Florence Police Department’s 2018 event earned the NNO’s Rookie of the Year Award
due to the positive community interaction it generated. Gorder said the first year was something new and exciting but didn’t have a lot of community expectations. “Going into the second year, we thought, ‘Look what I have to live up to!’ But it is working itself out. We get so much community support,” she said. At the State of the City event on Feb. 2, 2020, Florence Mayor Joe Henry announced, “In 2018, we won the Rookie of the Year Award for our National Night Out from the National Association of Town Watch. How do you top that? Well, our 2019 event won the Outstanding Participant Award! We are one of 20 communities to win this award out of the 16,000 participants.” The 2022 event will feature giant inflatable play structures, dunk tanks, kid games and other activities, along with visits by police officers, Public Works, other City of Florence staff, firefighters, the U.S. Coast Guard and paramedics. The activities will be spread throughout the park, mostly so the inflatable activities can access the park’s electrical grid “I like it spread out this way because some people didn’t know our park was as large as it is and that there are that many baseball fields,” Gorder added. “With the city getting the new snack shack, there’s a part of the park under construction, so I like that we’re utilizing the whole park.” This year will have a DJ from Magic One Entertainment.
She added, “I want people to bring chairs and blankets and just sit and enjoy some great music.” At this point, NNO is still receiving monetary donations from the community. “There’s so much support that it just comes together each year,” Gorder said. “You get support from the community, you get every first responding agency that wants to help out, you get the City of Florence and our city manager saying, ‘Here’s our staff, here’s our presence. What can we do to make this happen?’ People just want to be involved.” NNO, a program of National Association of Town Watch, is an annual community-building campaign to promote law enforcement-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. This helps make neighborhoods a safer and more caring place to live. NNO enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community. It provides a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances. Millions of neighbors across thousands of communities in the United States, Canada, and military bases worldwide come together on the first Tuesday of August to celebrate taking a stand against crime by hosting evening community events. Neighborhoods hold block parties, cookouts, children’s events, demonstrations and much more. For more information, visit natw.org and ci.florence.or.us/nationalnightout.
38 million neighbors | 16,000 communities | 38 years of NNO QUADS
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..so much more than a kitchen store.
A recipe for Community Awareness and Unity • Add Families • Add Local Businesses • Add Fun Mix them all together with our local Law Enforcement at the National Night Out on Tuesday August 2nd. Results bring a community together for a good cause!
1258 Bay Street, Florence - 541-997-6060
IN HISTORIC OLD TOWN February 18-20, 2023
Fri-Sun: Great Glass Float Trail Saturday: Wine Trail – 12-5pm Sunday: Chowder Trail – 12-4pm
Saturday November 26, 2022 Cookie, Cocoa & Cider Trail served by local merchants Search for prizes
Florence
Holiday Festival
2022 2021
JOIN US IN HISTORIC OLD TOWN December 2022
Celebrating with Santa
the Annual Light up Your Boat-Float, Hayrides, and Holiday Shopping! Tree Lighting & Caroling at 5:30pm florencechamber.com/events
Thank you Florence Police Department, We appreciate all that you do! True Value Hardware 1750 Highway 101, Florence 541-997-8024 Old School Furniture 1550 6th Street, Florence 541-997-9424 Saw Shop Florence 1550 6th Street, Florence 541-997-2653
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Vikings! Siuslaw School District 2111 Oak Street 541-997-2651 www.siuslaw.k12.or.us