The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Citizens of Columbia County are invited to the Dayton City Park on Tues- day, August 6, between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. to join forces with thousands of communities nationwide for National Night Out. National Night Out is an annual, anti-crime and anti-drug event spon- sored by the National As- sociation of Town Watch (NATW), and co-sponsored locally by Sheriff Rocky Miller and his staff at the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

During National Night Out this year, the Dayton City Park will be filled with events and activities. Free hotdogs, courtesy of Banner Bank, will be served up by mem- bers of the Dayton Kiwanis and Dayton Lion's Club and other local volunteers, while free soft drinks will be pro- vided by Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. Free cold bottled water will also be provided by In- land Cellular, Royal Neigh- bors of America and Puget Sound Energy. Scheduled events include a close-up look at both Life Flight and Medstar helicopters, which will be flying in for display. You can have your child fin- gerprinted and videotaped for an emergency response iden- tification packet by the Child Abduction Response Team. The Washington State Patrol will be on hand providing demonstrations of their remote controlled bomb robot. Ambulance crews from both Dayton and Waitsburg will be on hand to provide tours of their ambulances, and fire fighters and their trucks from Fire District 3 will also be on public display. The YWCA is scheduled to be on hand providing a wide variety of kid's games and activities. There will also be a free family movie in the park later in the evening (9 p.m.) courtesy of Blue Mountain Counseling.

In all, 40 exhibits are ex- pected to be on hand on the park lawn. In addition to the free food, exhibits and dem- onstrations, there will be free prize drawings conducted by many of the exhibiters all evening, but you must be present to win. So bring the family, lawn chairs or blan- kets and have some fun at National Night Out.

Last year's National Night Out campaign involved citi- zens, law enforcement agen- cies, civic groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations and local officials from over 15,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide. In all, over 37 million people partici- pated in National Night Out in 2012. In our little corner of the world, nearly 1,000 people attended National Night Out in the Dayton City Park last year!

National Night Out is designed to: (1) heighten crime- and drug-prevention awareness; (2) generate sup- port for, and participation in, local anti-crime efforts; (3) strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and (4) send a message to criminals and drug dealers letting them know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

National Night Out is a family-oriented, alcohol- and smoke-free event. No animals are allowed at the Dayton City Park, so please leave your pets at home.