National Night Out in Bluffton is Tuesday.

Icon viewers are invited to join forces with communities nationwide for the 31st annual National Night Out (NNO) crime and drug prevention event. Bluffton observes the event on Tuesday, Aug. 5.

Sergeant Matt Oglesbee of the Bluffton Police Department is the local coordinator.
This is the first time for the Bluffton and Pandora police departments to participate in the event.  

Activities will be held at the Bluffton Community Swimming Pool. There will be free pool admission all day and the NNO event will be from 6 to 9 p.m. that night. Residents of Bluffton, Beaverdam and Pandora are encouraged invited to attend, he added.

The evening will feature free food and snacks at the pool and a touch a truck display provided by the Bluffton, Beaverdam, and Pandora Fire and EMS departments. 

“We will also have bounce houses, face painting, and fire truck rides,” said Oglesbee.

National Night Out is designed to:
• Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;
• Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime efforts;
• Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and
• Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

NNO also encourages to lock their doors, turn on outside lights, and spend the evening outside with their neighbors and police.

National project coordinator Matt Peskin said, “This is a night for America to stand together to promote awareness, safety and neighborhood unity. National Night Out showcases the vital importance of police-community partnerships and citizen involvement in our fight to build a safer nation.  On NNO, we invite neighborhoods nationwide to join us in ‘Giving Crime & Drugs A Going Away Party.’”

Persons with question may contact Sgt. Oglesbee at the Bluffton Police Department 419-358-2961 extension 110 or email [email protected]. 

National Night Out sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW) and co-sponsored locally by Bluffton and Pandora police departments.

Nationwide, it involve over 16,124 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases around the world. Over 37.8 million people are expected to participate in “America’s Night Out Against Crime.”

NNO 2014 corporate sponsors are ADT, Nexdoor.com, Asocial, Kwikset, FunFlicks, and Swank Motion Pictures.