Manhattan Public Safety Community Night Set At New Location

MANHATTAN, IL — The Manhattan Public Safety Community Night will be held in a new location this year, but attendees can expect the same fun evening filled with activities, demonstrations, games and much more.

The free event will be held Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Round Barn Farm, 24115 U.S. Route 52 in Manhattan. Public Safety Community Night is co-sponsored by the Manhattan Police Department, Manhattan Fire Protection District, Manhattan Emergency Services and Manhattan Park District.

Manhattan Public Safety Community Night debuted in 2009 and has been growing every year since, according to Mokena Police Commander Mike Holford, who helped with the founding of the event.

"It just kind of grew into a much bigger event than we thought it would, and because of the success of the first couple of years it's just kept going and going," Holford said.

Some of the scheduled highlights are to include a helicopter landing at 6:30 p.m. and a vehicle extraction demonstration at 7 p.m.

"It's a great opportunity for the community to come out, speak with our officers, speak with members of the Fire Protection District and the allied agencies that would come out if we have a disaster or other of emergency so that they can show what services they would provide for us," Holford said.

For any youngsters between the ages of 5 and 13, there will be a friendly Junior Firefighters Combat Challenge from 6 p.m. to about 7:30 p.m.

The Manhattan Fire Protection District will have an obstacle course set up similar to the ones firefighters use for their training, according to Jackie O'Hara, fire and life safety coordinator for MFPD.

It works like this: Children will put on a mini-firefighter jacket and run through the course, consisting of climbing a ladder, dragging a firehose, simulating breaking through a roof, crawling through a tunnel and then pulling a "person" to safety. The "person" is actually an old firehouse wrapped up in duct tape, O'Hara said.

Each participant in the Junior Firefighters Combat Challenge will be given a free fire helmet and a button.

The challenge will be timed, and winners will receive a trophy and gift cards to The Creamery, O'Hara said. Winners will be announced at 8 p.m.

In between and during the festivities, children and families can participate in a touch-a-truck display, get their faces painted and snack on some free food.

The Will County Sheriff's Office will also be on site to give parents the opportunity to collect identifying information for their children, such as fingerprints and photos. The information is given to the parents to have in the unfortunate event that their child should ever go missing. Law enforcement officers do not keep the children's information, O'Hara said.

Following the Public Safety Community Night, the Manhattan Park District will host a Movie in the Park showing of "Sing 2," according to Manhattan Park District staff. The movie is also free to attend.