National Night Out scheduled for Aug. 7

Date: 7/31/2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

EAST LONGMEADOW — The National Night Out (NNO) is making its return to East Longmeadow for its sixth year and this year's event promises to be even bigger.

The national public safety initiative has been conducted across the country for 29 years with the intent of giving residents the opportunity to get to know and be comfortable with their local first responders, such as police and fire rescue personnel as well as strengthen community bonds.

The event, which is completely free to the public, will take place on Aug. 7 at 5:30 p.m. on the East Longmeadow High School parking lot.

"The main thing is strengthening the community connections while showing people all of the resources the Police Department and the Fire Department have at their disposal if you were to need their help," Susan Grimaldi, member of the East Longmeadow Rotary Club and NNO organizer, said.

This year's NNO will include some of the old favorite attractions, such as the Massachusetts State Police canine unit, a LIFE STAR helicopter, which will land on the East Longmeadow High School baseball field, an East Longmeadow Fire Department car extrication exercise, a bounce house, face painting, ice cream and other treats and a car show, but there will be some changes to this year's event.

First and foremost, due to the recent renovations to the athletic complex, the entire event will take place on the parking lot, not on the fields. Because of this, all visitors are asked to park in the neighboring parking lot at St. Michael's Parish on Maple Street.

"Father [James] Scahill has been very accommodating to us in the past and he has graciously allowed us to use the church's parking lot," Police Chief Douglas Mellis said.

There are also new attractions at this year's event, including The Zoo at Forest Park bringing a number of small animals and members of East Longmeadow Cable Access Television (ELCAT) hosting a scavenger hunt.

In addition to the scavenger hunt, organizer Al Grimaldi credited ELCAT Studio Assistant Kelly Glover and ELCAT intern Kerri MacCormack with playing a major role in securing commitments for this year's event.

"There was big interest by ELCAT in getting involved and Kelly and Kerri brought great enthusiasm and new ideas," he said. "This year we have a tremendous amount of new groups because of their dedication and enthusiasm."

The Baystate Blood Mobile will also be on-site once again, offering residents the opportunity to donate to the alarmingly low blood supply. In the past, NNO attendees have been very generous, Al Grimaldi noted.

"The people from Baystate have said that the Blood Mobile has never gotten the kind of response like it has at the National Night Out," he said.

Because the NNO takes place outdoors, the public is encouraged to visit www.eastlongmeadowweather.org to check the status of the event.