After taking a year off due to the pandemic, more than three dozen Iowa communities will be taking part in the National Night Out this evening.
Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons encourages people to visit with law officers, firefighters, paramedics, and other first responders. “It’s a community policing project,” Sheriff Timmons says. “I guess the easiest way to explain it is to let everybody come see us, see we’re normal people. Come look at our stuff that we use and have a good time, have a light meal, a little dessert, and come out and meet everybody.”
Some 38 Iowa communities are taking part which aim to show how law enforcement and residents can work together to better where we live. Timmons says Webster City will have a few special events.
“They’re going to be having a nickel scramble. If you haven’t seen a nickel scramble, they throw out a couple of bags of sawdust on a tarp and they throw in a bunch of nickels and the kids get a cup and they dig through the sawdust and find nickels and the kids just love it,” he says. “We’ll also be having a climbing wall.”
Find the community nearest to you that’s having National Night Out events at: www.natw.org. The list includes: Bloomfield, Bridgewater, Burlington, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Charles City, Coralville, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Decorah, Des Moines, Dubuque, Eldridge, Fort Dodge, Grinnell, Iowa City, Jewell, Kellogg, Le Mars, Manchester, Marengo, Marion, Mason City, Muscatine, Newell, Newton, Pocahontas, Polk City, Red Oak, Remsen, Rockwell, Sigourney, Sioux City, Storm Lake, Stuart, Urbandale, Waterloo and West Liberty.
This marks the 37th year of these events.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)