South Orange Invites Maplewood to National Night Out

Maplewood may not be holding any official National Night Out events this year, but South Orange has officially extended an invitation to its Maplewood neighbors for South Orange's first-ever National Night Out (NNO) tonight from 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. at Floods Hill.

The event includes a public safety fair, a Kids Zone, and an outdoor showing of Shrek. Best of all, says Sheena Collum of the Citizens Public Safety Committee, the evening is free and open to the public.

An inflatable bounce house will draw fans, while a Dunk Tank is expected to attract a crowd, especially when locals can dunk their favorite police officers and, just maybe, the South Orange Village President.

The event is a collaboration of the Citizens Public Safety Committee, and the Village, including the South Orange Police Department, the South Orange Police Benevolent Association Local #12, the South Orange Fire Department, and the South Orange Rescue Squad. Collum notes, "Eden Marketplace provided the majority of funding through a very generous donation."

Collum adds, "The residents of South Orange have really displayed an interest in wanting to learn more and participate in topics regarding public safety - and this is a great thing!  National Night Out is a way to bring the community together with our outstanding police officers, firefighters and rescue squad members to ask questions, learn more about what they do, and how the public can get involved."

Nationally, NNO is is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness. Its goals include: generating support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs; strengthening neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and sending a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. In 2009, the 27th year of the event in North America, more than 36 million people participated in 15,000 communities.

The model for the Floods Hill event, explains Collum, is familiar to local residents. "Our lineup for the event is basically a community-wide block party with a public safety theme," she says.  With bike registration opportunities, fire truck tours, live music from Aisle 5, kid fingerprinting and a showing of Shrek,  "There's something for everyone," according to Collum.  "We're hoping to attract a few hundred residents for the first year and continue it annually," she adds.

There is no charge for any of the events, but Collum reminds residents to bring a blanket and settle in for Shrek. "It should be a great night out for South Orange."