Prior Lake American - Share your ‘National Night Out’ stories with us - Comments

I have yet to attend my own

Shawn Hogendorf — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 17:31:15 -0500

I have yet to attend my own neighborhood party, but I attended my first two National Night Out parties in Prior Lake last night. I attended one at Wilds Park and another in the Stroms Circle neighborhood.

What a great event. It is a nice opportunity to meet community members, police officers, firefighters and city council members.

The Wilds Park party boasted inflatable games, a police car, a fire truck, a raffle, a catered BBQ and a neighborhood potluck.

The Storms Circle party had Freezees, ice-cream sandwiches, soda and a bicycle parade led by police officers.

Mine too! (First year

Lori Carlson — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 14:43:59 -0500

Mine too! (First year attending my own neighborhood's party, that is.)

I usually have to work or have some other obligation, but this year, my husband and I got to attend not one, but two National Night Out parties.

The first was technically an "assignment." We take our dog to advanced obedience class, which challenges the dogs to obey commands and behave in environments, largely outdoor, where they're more likely to be distracted. So last night, our entire class (about 15 humans and nine dogs) descended upon the neighborhood where our trainer has a location!

It was quite a sight. The neighborhood residents were incredibly tolerant of our "attack." In fact, they even gave the trainer flowers for being a good addition to the neighborhood. The dogs did alright - some of them did wonderfully considering the circumstances. The trainer said our dog, Ziggy, was doing "awesome." (Apparently she didn't see Ziggy knock my husband's plate out of his hand as he tried to go through the food line.)

Later, we attended our own block's party and got a chance to meet people we didn't even know lived near us, from age 2 to 80-plus. I'm not sure whether National Night Out actually lowers the crime rate, but it definitely brings neighbors together and creates more awareness of our surroundings.

This was my first year

Joanna Miller — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:31:15 -0500

This was my first year attending a National Night Out party in my own neighborhood. I was being kind of anti-social and shy as a new neighbor. Eventually, the coordinator stopped by and asked me to come introduce myself. Well, long story short, somehow I ended up as the block leader for next year's party? (I don't know how I always end up leading volunteer groups...but I guess it's a good thing).

So, what I need from y'all are suggestions for making next year's National Night Out bigger and badder than this year's party (I can't let last year's block leader show me up j/k)

They roped off the block, grilled out, created a block map with the neighbors' names so we knew where everyone was at, and let the kids play. The Minneapolis police dropped in for a moment, too.

Oh, and I think water balloons were involved at some point ;)

Share your ‘National Night Out’ stories with us

Shawn Hogendorf — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:58:59 -0500

What did you do for “National Night Out”?