WILLMAR -- For those neighborhoods not celebrating Tuesday's National Night Out themselves, the Willmar Police Department says community members should go to Robbins Island for the department's third annual cookout and safety fair.
"We still want to encourage them to do a neighborhood thing, but it's also good to do a big community thing," said Sgt. Julie Asmus of the Willmar Police Department.
For those with or without a block festival to go to, the Willmar Police Department will have plenty to offer from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Robbins Island, Asmus said.
For this year's event, families will get to see a LifeLink helicopter up close and watch the Willmar Rescue Squad perform a vehicle extraction, Asmus said. Meanwhile, the kids can play games, enter a bicycle drawing or even climb a rock wall provided by the Army National Guard.
The Willmar Police Department started holding its National Night Out cookout after organizing Willmar's All-America City Picnic in 2005, Asmus said. After a large and enthusiastic community response, Asmus said, the department decided it needed to hold more events like it.
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Asmus said the department has tried to promote National Night Out with the previous cookouts, but it also wants to provide neighborhood safety information to the community.
Willmar has a few neighborhoods that consistently hold festivities for National Night Out, Asmus said, but the number of celebrating neighborhoods has not grown. With the cookouts, Asmus said, the department hopes more neighborhoods start their own celebrations along with creating their own watch programs that reinforce neighborhood safety.
Ambulances, fire engines and the crime prevention specialists of the Willmar Police Department and the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office will also be at Tuesday's event. Asmus said the department expects around 1,000 people to attend.
According to the National Association of Town Watch Web site, the 24th Annual National Night Out last year involved 35.4 million people in 11,310 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities, and military bases worldwide. More than 12,000 communities are expected to take part Tuesday in National Night Out 2008.
For more on National Night Out, visit www. nationalnightout.org.
