National Night Out return this Tuesday with a bang. Here's what you need to know.
Courtesy Essex Police Department
The Essex Police Department will soon host its annual National Night Out, a community-building event that usually looks like a block party, but after a year’s hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be larger than in years past.
Since its founding in 1984, National Night Out has been celebrated in 16,000 communities across the country. The event is celebrated on the first Tuesday of August.
This year’s National Night Out will be held from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3 at Essex High School.
The event aims to build community and establish camaraderie between police officers and the community they work within, said Corporal John Ruttenberg of the Essex Police Department (EPD).
“National Night Out is an event designed to strengthen community partnerships and relationships and increase greater public safety,” Ruttenberg said.
Ruttenberg has worked for EPD for 21 years. He said this is the first time the department will be hosting an event of this size.
In years past, Essex’s National Night Out has felt more like a number of individual neighborhood block parties, he said, where officers would make rounds to the different neighborhoods throughout the event. In 2021, EPD wanted to do things differently by connecting the separate crowds into a larger festival.
“After surviving the most restrictive time for COVID last year, we saw that we were finally coming out of that and restrictions were starting to be lifted, and we were hoping that life would sort of normalize for the community,” Ruttenberg said. “We figured it was time to get out and meet the people and have the people meet us and bring everybody together for a good time.”
The event will feature a selection of vendors and entertainment, including a DJ from Top Hat Entertainment, a bounce house, a maple creemee truck, a snow cone machine and a raffle. It will be held in the parking lot of Essex High School
“We want people to be able to see and visit with their local first responders, their local support services, to know that we're here to support them, we're here to support the community."
—Corporal John Ruttenberg
Among the groups attending are the Essex Police Department, Essex Fire Department, Essex Rescue Department, Essex Community Justice Council, Essex Community Health Initiatives & Programs and the Vermont Army National Guard.
Participants are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items to the event to donate to Dot’s Place, a community food shelf in Essex.
Ruttenberg is hopeful about community turnout and has used social media, word of mouth and a press release detailing the entire event to spread the word.
“We want people to be able to see and visit with their local first responders, their local support services, to know that we're here to support them, we're here to support the community,” Ruttenberg said.
