Falls Church Neighbors Make New Friends During NNO

Christi Laundauer doesn’t know all of her Falls Church neighbors nor does she profess to know everyone.

Tuesday, during a National Night Out community block party, Laundauer got to know more of her neighbors and the Fairfax County police officers patrolling the streets where she lives.

“Everyone is so busy to stop and talk usually,” Laundauer said. “This is a good way for us to get to talk to our neighbors.”

Neighborhoods throughout Northern Virginia and the country celebrated NNO Tuesday. The goal of the national event is to strengthen connections within neighborhoods and heighten awareness of crime prevention issues. According to a Fairfax County police release, 36 million people across the country participated in NNO events in 2011.

As Laundauer made her rounds through the crowd at the block party, she took time to speak to everyone young and old alike. She said this is the third year she and her friends on the neighborhood watch group have hosted a National Night Out block party. Laundauer said the group will look to plan another block party next August.

“It’s a lot of reaching out to local businesses and such to help us out, but it’s fun,” she said.

said she wanted to make stops at eight NNO events in her area. Stopping to hand out children’s books to the younger participants at the Falls Church block party, Smyth said the event was a great opportunity for neighbors to talk and come up with ways to make their community safer.

“This is what National Night Out is about,” Smyth said while shaking hands with constituents. “This is cooler than normal.”

Just six months into his position as commander of the McLean Police Station, Capt. Dan Janickey said he enjoys helping spread information and tips on how to make communities safe during NNO events. He said each year gets better and always promotes unity amongst neighbors and communities.

“It’s always a positive atmosphere,” he said.