National Night Out Returns To Homewood In 2021

HOMEWOOD, IL — National Night Out 2021 events in Homewood on Aug. 3 are part of a nationwide push to strengthen police and community relations.

The nationwide event “promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer,” according to the National Association of Town Watch, the organization that founded the annual early August event in 1984.

The Homewood event will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Irwin Park Gazebo. The event will include activities like a water balloon contest, hula-hoop contest, balloon animal artist, public safety vehicles display and more. Food vendors that will be on site include Aurelio's Pizza, Dairy Queen, Wiley's Grill, Juancho's Tacos and Kettle Korn. A UCAN helicopter will be landing around 5:15 p.m. Learn more about the event on the police department's Facebook page.

Since 1984, communities across the country have held National Night Out events on the first Tuesday of August. Block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and other community events have been popular ways to celebrate the outreach-focused event.

More than 2 million Americans took part in the first National Night Out. Now, the event is celebrated in more than 16,000 communities across all 50 states, according to the National Association of Town Watch.

Many National Night Out events are back in 2021 after widespread cancellations last summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For example, businesses in Marple Township, Pennsylvania, are donating goods to be used during a night of music, games and demonstrations. In Palos Hills, Illinois, kids can play in large inflatable toys, and a face-painter will be on hand at a local park.

Tim McCarthy, a retired Orland Park, Illinois, police chief, has called National Night Out “a great way for kids to meet their local police officers in a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere unlike an emergency setting.”

McCarthy, a former Secret Service member best known for taking a bullet for President Ronald Reagan in a 1983 assassination attempt, told Patch in 2019 that police officers “enjoy seeing everyone come back each year to see all that’s happening with the police department, and to have a fun evening.”