Marietta’s National Night Out

Written by Jack and Trisha Ries
I think a lot of us, when we were kids, sat in cardboard boxes while imagining we were driving a fire truck, or sitting in the front seat (I said FRONT seat) of a police cruiser. Just wanting to look at all the esoteric buttons, knobs, dials, and gauges on the dashboard that we would never understand, but which still twinkled in our eyes like lights on a Christmas tree. Maybe it’s just me. Or maybe not. Either way, now that many of us are grown and have our own children, there’s actually an opportunity to finally fulfill that sense of wonder for ourselves and our kids, plus so much more. It happens on the first Tuesday in August every year, and It’s called National Night Out.
National Night Out began in the suburbs of Philadelphia, way back in 1984, when we were all wearing shoulder pads, leg warmers, and copious amounts of Aqua Net hairspray while saving up our allowances for one of those new-fangled compact disc players. Its beginnings were humble. It consisted of residents simply turning on their porch lights to light up the streets and sidewalks and sitting in front of their homes in a sort-of act of unified neighborhood watch to ward off any potential scofflaws or ne’er-do-wells. Since then, it has blossomed into a community outreach event for first responder agencies involving nearly 40 million people across over 16,000 communities nationwide, including for the first time ever this year, right here in our little borough of Marietta.
Marietta’s National Night Out was held in the field at Memorial Park and featured a live DJ, a bounce house, pony rides, games, food trucks, and vehicles and representatives from MESA, Marietta Pioneer Fire Company, Maytown Fire Company, Marietta Special Fire Police, and of course, Susquehanna Regional Police, who also operated a canned food drive and demonstrated their camera drone during the event. There was also representation from many local businesses, organizations, and civic leaders, all there to provide fun, treats, toys, and safety education for families and children. Songs were playing, people were dancing, kids were having fun, and our first responders were able to build a rapport with our youngest generation and their parents.
National Night Out has become a valuable tool for police and other first responders to interact with the communities they serve and dispel any negative stigma that surrounds what they do for a living. It also serves as a great avenue for local companies, non-profit organizations, and public figures to interact with the people in their communities and help to achieve a level of trust and cooperation that improves public safety. All in all, I’d say that’s pretty cool. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to get back to my cardboard box so that I can continue making siren noises and imagining I’m driving a fire truck.
“There is no higher honor than to be given the responsibility to care for another human being.”
– Richard K. Schachern