National Night Out Ramps Up, Project 365 Announced, Last Call for Booths Share

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Excit­ing details for the upcom­ing Nation­al Night Out in Mar­i­on have been announced, and there is still lim­it­ed time to reserve a booth for the free com­mu­ni­ty­wide event at the 5^th Street Com­mons (5^th & Wash­ing­ton) on August 6^th, 2019 from 6 – 9pm.

Food trucks will open at 5pm fea­tur­ing Pappie’s BBQ, Bloom Bak­ery, Tree of Life Youth Group’s ​‘Ele­phant Toes,’ and MOPS (Moth­ers of Preschool­ers) bake sale. At 5:45pm, sev­er­al motor­cy­cle clubs will kick off Nation­al Night Out, fol­lowed by the Nation­al Anthem by Erin Pur­dy at 6pm. The evening will also fea­ture live music by Glen Welch and a sneak-peak per­for­mance by Mar­i­on Civic The­atre. May­or Alum­baugh will give a procla­ma­tion rec­og­niz­ing Nation­al Night Out at 7pm, as well as words of affir­ma­tion towards neigh­bor­hood engage­ment from Mar­i­on Police Chief Angela Haley and Fire Chief Geoff Williams. Both MPD and MFD will have K9s on site as well as a squad car and fire truck to explore, plus var­i­ous give­aways. Police offi­cers will have a dunk tank set up as well as raid gear with which com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers may interact.

Fea­tures are still being added to the fun-packed event includ­ing prizes pro­mot­ing neigh­bor­hood beau­ti­fi­ca­tion. Prizes will include gift cards from local home improve­ment stores and items like rakes, shov­els, gar­den gloves, and paint brushes. 

One spe­cial give­away is part of a col­lec­tive effort of all active neigh­bor­hood asso­ci­a­tions called Project 365. The Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion of Town Watch (NATW) asks com­mu­ni­ties par­tic­i­pat­ing in NNO to choose a project to focus on until the next NNO. For the next 365 days, Mar­i­on neigh­bor­hoods have cho­sen to pro­mote turn­ing on more porch lights and dis­play­ing more house num­bers. Dur­ing the event, the first 50 peo­ple who vis­it the City of Mar­i­on booth will receive a blue light bulb. While sup­plies last, house num­bers will also be dis­trib­uted to res­i­dents in need. Neigh­bor­hood Asso­ci­a­tion Coor­di­na­tor Kay­la John­son explained, ​“Neigh­bor­hood lead­ers chose the col­or blue to sym­bol­ize police offi­cers and the City of Mar­i­on.” Neigh­bor­hood leader Lin­da Wilk received a grant through Thrivent Finan­cial for $250 to assist in pur­chas­ing blue light bulbs and house num­bers for the pro­gram in addi­tion to pay­ing for the event’s DJ/MC. More infor­ma­tion about Project 365 will be offered to res­i­dents who attend the event.

Booth space for Nation­al Night Out is still avail­able and may be reserved by con­tact­ing Kay­la John­son by August 2^nd. Call (765) 382‑3797 or email kjohnson@​cityofmarion.​in.​gov. It is free to set up a booth whether food ven­dor, busi­ness, or non-profit.

Nation­al Night Out is being revived in Mar­i­on as an annu­al event. Vis­it the Face­book Event Page, Nation­al Night Out, Mar­i­on, IN, 2019, for fur­ther updates includ­ing park­ing and poten­tial rain location.

About Nation­al Night Out: https://​natw​.org/