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National Night Out Celebration Fast Approaching
Riv NNO
Representatives of the Riverbank Police Services, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Mounted Patrol unit and the S.T.A.R.S. volunteers are shown as they participated in last year’s National Night Out celebration at the Community Center Park. This year, it will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 6, at Silva Park in Crossroads. News File Photo By Ric McGinnis
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Riverbank’s yearly National Night Out celebration is coming up early next month, with a new location.

It’s set for Tuesday, Aug. 6, and will be held at Silva Park, 5800 Antique Rose Way, beginning at 5 p.m. and continuing until 8 p.m., according to organizers. Last year, it was held at Community Center Park in the downtown area.

This year, in addition to the regular participation of local first responders, such as police, fire and ambulance personnel, organizers are planning on participation by Esperanza’s Party Rentals, which will be bringing out a bounce house for the kids.

They also say Pina Coco will be attending, with their shaved ice trailer.

All this is in addition to the other local businesses that participate.

In the past, there has been participation by the Sheriff’s S.T.A.R.S. organization, senior volunteers, as well as Riverbank Police Services officers and members of the Sheriff’s Mounted Unit.

Originally, the National Night Out observances here in Riverbank were held in local neighborhoods across town, with first responder units splitting into two groups to try to reach all the participating neighborhoods. Recently, though, the plan has changed, where the units all assemble in one location and the families converge there to participate.

According to Police Chief Erin Kiely, this method is much more efficient in allowing citizens more time to meet with officers, since they don’t have to rush off to the next neighborhood.

Organizers say there will also be hot dogs, drinks, games, fun, and raffles for the kids available.

Nationally, the event has been held each year since 1984, on the first Tuesday of August, and is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch in both the U.S. and Canada.

National Night Out began simply with neighbors turning on their porch lights and sitting in front of their homes, as a way to ‘take back the night’ from crime. Statistics show that the first NNO involved 2.5 million residents across 400 communities in 23 states; by 2016, it involved 38 million residents in 16,000 communities across the United States.