Royersford, Spring City Hold Successful National Night Out Events

Residents from local communities were out last night for National Night Out events in Spring City and Royersford, as part of a national push to develope and promote crime prevention programs.

In Spring City, police and fire officials, along with other community groups, met at the Brown Street Park for a National Night Out event, which featured police and fire from Liberty Fire Co. and Spring City Police, as well as other law enforcement officials.

Spring City Police Chief Anthony Kuklinshi showed off the borough’s new bicycle and bicycle patrol uniform, which was purchased with a donation from resident

The Spring City event serves as a fundraiser for the Spring-Ford Lions Club.

“It’s one of the biggest fundraiser for the lions club,” said Jim Burns, Spring City Lions President.  “This is one of our largest fundraisers every year to offset the cost of the scholarship.”

In Royersford, Royersford and Limerick Police companies were on hand for the event, including Limerick K-9 Officer Flynn, which was held on Washington Street between Third and Fifth avenues.

There were fun activities for kids, including a moon bounce, dunk tank and face painting, and live music and performances, and vendors such as Target, Wegman’s and other national companies, and local spots such as Corner Café, Main Street Café and Demetrius Pizza were on hand to offer free food and fun activities.

A car show was set up, and several local organizations set up shop to show their wares to residents, including municipal groups such as Limerick Township Park and Recreation.

The National Night Out began in 1984, to promote involvement in crime prevention activities and police-community partnerships, according to the National Association of Town Watch (NATW).

In its inaugural year, 2.5 million americans took part in the event in 400 communities across 23 states.

Now, the events involve over 37 million people in 15,000 communities from across all 50 states, according to the NATW.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for communities nationwide to promote police-community partnerships, crime prevention, and neighborhood camaraderie," said NATW Executive Director Matt Peskin.  "While the one night is certainly not an answer to crime, drugs and violence, National Night Out represents the kind of spirit, energy and determination to help make neighborhoods a safer place year round."