The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG – There's no need to worry about what's for dinner on Tuesday. Just head out to the Waitsburg athletic field and enjoy the free goodies provided as part of the country's National Night Out Celebration. Waitsburg will join in the festivities for the first time this year, and the athletic field will be alive with food and fun from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., that evening.

Kids can learn how to make a proper 911 call and the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Department will be on hand with a patrol boat to demonstrate boater safety. The Waitsburg Ambulance Service will offer ambulance tours and will have some fun giveaways.

Columbia County Health Systems will provide wellness checks and representatives of the City Fire Department will have a fire truck on hand. Both Medstar and Life Flight plan to have helicopters on site.

A voter registration booth, as well as other informational booths, will also be available. There will also be kid's games, face painting.

The Waitsburg Resource Center will provide free hot dogs, the Firefighter's Association is providing chips and ice cream and Pepsi is providing soda. Once they've checked out all the fun at the athletic field, partiers can head down Main Street where the Waitsburg Presbyterian Church (504 Main St.) will be offering free root beer floats from 6 to 8 p.m.

The local bluegrass band Switchgrass will provide entertainment, so plan to bring a blanket or chair and stick around to enjoy the music. The city pool will be open for free night swimming from 6-8 p.m.

"There will be lots of fun activities for the whole family," said organizer Deb Callahan.

National Night Out has been held annually since 1984 and is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch in the U.S. and Canada. The event is a community-building campaign promoting police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie.

Local volunteers are still needed to man the voter registration booth, the kid's games and general information booths. Volunteers can contact Callahan at (509) 520-0607.

(Story revised from original to reflect venue change.)