National Night Out is Tuesday, Aug. 6, which is tonight.
The Greensboro City Council meeting was held Monday, Aug. 5 because most councilmembers spend the evening dashing from one National Night Out neighborhood event to another. There seems to be some kind of unofficial contest among councilmembers to see who can attend the most events, even though they claim not to be keeping score.
National Night Out is a nationwide program to promote neighborhood spirit and police-citizen partnerships. It is sponsored by the Greensboro Police Department.
Originally, on National Night Out people were encouraged to turn their televisions off, their porch lights on and get out and meet their neighbors.
But over the years it has developed into neighborhood celebrations with everything from ice cream socials to full fledged cook outs, pot luck dinners, parades and block parties. Police officers are a constant presence at the events, which are designed to give people a chance to get to know the women and men behind the uniforms.
Greensboro has been nationally recognized for its participation in National Night Out with over 150 neighborhoods participating, and the Greensboro Police Department has won 23 national awards based on that community participation.
