National night out

TOUCHET VALLEY – The cities of Dayton, Waitsburg, and Walla Walla are all taking part in this year’s National Night Out (NNO) campaign on the evening of Tuesday, August 2. Last year’s NNO campaign involved citizens, law enforcement agencies, civic groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations and local officials from over 15,000 communities from all 50 states. In all, over 37 million people participated in NNO in 2015.

National Night Out is designed to heighten crime awareness, generate support for local anticrime efforts, strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships, and send a message to criminals that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. NNO is a family-oriented, alcohol and smoke-free event.

Dayton

Dayton City Park will be filled with free events activities from 5-8 p.m. There will be free hot dogs, chips, soft drinks and bottles water and plenty of kid’s games and activities. A Life Flight helicopter will fly in, the Game Department will have a patrol boat on display and the State Partrol will demonstrate their remote controlled bomb robot and more than 30 exhibits and displays will be on hand. Children can be fingerprinted and videotaped for an emergency response ID packet. The Dayton City Pool will offer free swimming from 6-8 p.m. and a free night glow fun run will take off at 8:30 p.m. There will be a free family movie in the park at 9 p.m. Nearly 1,000 people attended last year’s event in Dayton.

Waitsburg

Waitsburg’s second annual NNO event will take place at Preston Park from 5-7 p.m. A Life Flight helicopter will land and be available for tours from 5:15 to 6:15 pending any last minute obligations. There will be free hot dogs, pop, and ice cream and Switchgrass will play from 5-7 p.m. The Waitsburg Clinic will conduct wellness checks and voter registration will be available. There will be plenty of booths and exhibits, as well as face painting and games. There will be a free sponsored swim at the pool from 6-8 p.m.

Walla Walla

Walla Walla’s NNO will take place at Pioneer Park from 5-7:30 p.m. Visitors can check out the parade of emergency vehicles and vendor booths while enjoying a free hot dog, slice of pizza, and a dilly bar.