National Night Out 2007

Crime Watch of Stratford along with the Stratford Police Department participated in the 2007 NNO with many family friendly activities, which took place at Penders Field in Stratford, Ct. on August 7, 2007. After six months of diligently planning this event, the 2007 NNO was a very well attended success! Target Stores was the main sponsor of the 2007 event. Brett Szrenja, Tony White and Shane Nielson of Target Stores here in Connecticut were an integral part of this year’s successful event. The main attraction for the evening was the # 41 Nascar Target Dodge Charger by Chip Ganassi Racing. There was no charge for any of the evening’s activities; the goal of the event was to draw families out to enjoy a fun filled and informative evening with their neighbors.
Louie Zayas, a local D.J. from the Lordship section of Stratford, kicked off the event at 6:00 p.m. As the music played from the Town of Stratford’s Show mobile, the family fun activities were underway. As families entered the park, they were given a ticket for each member of the family for a free hot dog, bag of chips and a free bottle of cold water. They were also each given a free raffle ticket for prizes, which were donated by local businesses.
Volunteers from Target Stores welcomed the guests with free helium filled balloons, Target pinwheels and a kid friendly activity booklet on personal safety. The Stratford High School Booster Club volunteers did a great job cooking and serving the free hot dogs to the guests. The Rotary Club of Stratford played a significant role in the success of the 2007 NNO event. The Rotary Club of Stratford provided the financial support to purchase 500 hot dogs and buns for the public. Health Net also provided freshly popped popcorn for free, all night long!
The Stratford Indian Guides and Princess “tribes” provided all of the games for the children, a very popular attraction. The games were run by the kids and monitored by an adult. They also provided a free moon bounce for the kids and their terrific penny games created lines at these activities most of the evening. After each child completed one of the games they were allowed to pick one item of their choice from the “prize boxes” which were supplied by Crime Watch of Stratford. The Indian Guide and Princesses also let the children pick a candy item from their candy box.
The Sterling House Community Center of Stratford provided two popular venues for the evening. The first was a “score on the soccer pro” demo. A professional soccer pro would give the children a quick demonstration of some of his “soccer tricks” and then he would let them try to score a goal against him. Sterling House also had several of their camp counselors at the event where they were doing free face painting for the children.
The YMCA of Stratford had set up a ball toss game where the children would throw a ball through a small hole and win a prize. “Project Greenway” set up a booth to give out information about their effort to build a walking and biking path along the shore of the Housatonic River here in Stratford. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MADD, and the American Diabetes Association, ADA, each set up a booth to make the public aware of their ongoing important efforts that they make daily for our citizens.
The Narcotics Enforcement Officers of America also participated in the event. The NEOA had set up their very important display, which teaches parents and children about the effects of illegal drugs and other illicit substances. Photo ID Kits were given to each parent after the child to a pledge not to get involved with drugs. The Connecticut State Police provided their well know safety awareness device, “The Convincer”, which teaches and demonstrates the importance of buckling your seatbelt. The Connecticut Police Chiefs Association had a rollover simulator at this year’s event. The rollover simulator shows the public the important role that seatbelts play during a vehicle rollover accident. The demonstrators would roll the simulated vehicle over several times with life size dummies in the vehicle compartment seat belted properly. Then they would unbuckle one of the “dummy” occupants, rollover the vehicle and the “dummy” would be ejected from the car. It was a very effective demonstration.
Sikorsky Financial Credit Union had also set up a booth and they were handing out many free gifts to the adults and the children. SFCU was also very instrumental in making the 2007 NNO event possible. As an associate sponsor of the event, their financial contribution helped make the evening a success. Another popular venue this evening was the Stratford Police Community Relations Officer’s booth. The CRO’s had their police bicycles for the children to see and they were provided with 72 brand new bicycle helmets to give a way to the children! The CRO’s helped properly adjust the helmets for the children and gave out free colored flashing lights and police stickers to the children.
Crime Watch of Stratford had a booth set up at their annual event. Syndicated cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune, Frank McLaughlin, was set up there drawing “free hand” cartoon character tattoos on the arms of children for free. Mr. McLaughlin is best known for his cartoon work on the famous comic strip, Gil Thorpe. Radio station 600 WICC had their van at this years event with their afternoon “drive time” radio host Brian Smith giving out prizes to those who stopped by their van to say hi. The Connecticut National Guard provided a Humvee for the children to explore. The American Red Cross of Connecticut had their emergency response van at the event where their volunteers answered questions from the public about the service that the Red Cross provides during emergencies.
Stratford E.M.S. volunteers were on hand showing off their ambulance, conducting free blood pressure screenings and answering questions from children and adults. The Stratford Fire Department had their large ladder truck at the event. Children were busy all night long exploring the big red fire truck, which had its rescue ladder fully extended up into the air! The friendly firefighters also gave out information on fire safety.
Car enthusiasts had a little eye candy at this years NNO event. A fully restored antique 1964 Ford Fairlane Stratford Police car was at the event along with the 1987 Stratford Police D.A.R.E. Chevrolet Camaro. The newest addition to the Stratford Police patrol unit, a new 2007 Dodge Charger was on hand for the public to explore. And of course, the Chip Ganassi Racing #41 Nascar Target Dodge Charger was the evening’s highlight for many of the children and adults!
Stratford’s Mayor, James Miron, introduced Connecticut’s Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal to the 2007 Stratford NNO event. Mr. Blumenthal was kind enough to say a few words to the crowd relating to the importance of programs such as neighborhood watch. He also presented certificates of achievement from his office to winners of the annual Crime Watch anti crime poster contest. The poster contest is run every year by the Stratford Recreation Department and Sterling House Community Center at their various summer day camps throughout the town. In addition to the Certificates from the AG’s office the winners each received a Target gift card and a NNO T-shirt. After the contest winners were announced Crime Watch President Jack Cratty and Detective Brian Budd conducted the free raffle drawing. Target Stores, ShopRite Supermarket of Milford, the Bridgeport Bluefish baseball team, and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers hockey team all submitted prizes for the raffle. Total attendance for the 2007 NNO event at Penders Field in Stratford, Ct. was estimated to be between 500-600 residents.
The Crime Watch Executive Board would like to express our deepest appreciation to our sponsors, Target Stores, Sikorsky Financial Credit Union, Stratford Rotary Club, Stratford Police Chief John Buturla, the Stratford Police Union, Stratford Police Benevolent Association and the Stratford Volunteer EMS Association. Also to all the groups and organizations who made this event extremely successful.