WATERVILLE — Live music, a cookout, children’s games and police and fire demonstrations will be part of Tuesday’s National Night Out celebration at Green Street Park, in the city’s South End.

While the event is designed to be lots of fun, it’s also about making connections with neighbors and law enforcement, according to Nancy Souza, program coordinator of the South End Teen Center.

Souza, who has helped organize the annual event since 2006, said National Night Out draws about 800 people of all ages who live and work in the South End.

Hosted by the Police Department, the South End Neighborhood Association and the South End Teen Center, the event helps to promote community involvement and unity, as well as provide an environment in which families look out for each other, Souza said.

Ultimately, that environment helps to prevent and decrease crime, she said.

“It’s really a great time for families and for the neighborhood to get together and enjoy being part of that neighborhood,” Souza said Sunday. “It’s just a very positive evening. It connects people to people, and I just think that’s really important.”

The celebration will be held 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and will include live music by the Sonny Perry Band.

National Night Out was established 29 years ago and is sponsored by National Association of Town Watch. Communities all over the country host local celebrations, according to Paula J. Currie-Raymond, public relations coordinator for the Waterville event.

The South End celebration was started in 2003 by the Teen Center, the South End Neighborhood Association and then-South End police Officer William Bonney, who now is a sergeant in the Police Department.

One goal of the event is to help heighten awareness about crime and drug prevention, generate support for participation in anti-crime efforts and strengthen spirit and police-community partnerships, according to Currie-Raymond.

Souza said businesses have been generous in helping to make the event possible.

“We reached out to the business community and the civic organizations, and the response has been consistently great every year,” she said.

Businesses also have donated prizes to be used in a drawing Tuesday, she said.

Civic organizations will have booths to provide people with information about how families may connect with local resources, she said.

A bounce house and free cotton candy and snow cones are just some of the offerings Tuesday.

“The Parks and Recreation Department set up a tennis demonstration that’s going to be on the skateboard park for kids to participate and learn how to play,” Souza said.

Copy the Story Link