National Night Out strengthening the community not only across country, but in Palmyra.
National Night Out has been a growing phenomenon across the United States since its beginning in 1984. Since 2015, the Borough of Palmyra has been participating in this country-wide event, which will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Aug. 1 at the Palmyra Community Center.
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighbor camaraderie to make neighborhoods safer and more caring places to live.
“We normally start planning for this event about three months ahead of time,” Chief of Police Scott Pearlman said. “Our department does a lot of community outreach normally, so NNO helps strengthen that bond between our police force and the community.”
The event is designed for all ages, and will feature a custom car cruise night, live music, food, a bounce house for the younger kids and a basketball-shooting event for the older kids. In addition, Polar Shredding will be in attendance so residents can safely discard paperwork.
“We work with DelVal Corvair Club on the car cruise, while Friends Band is a local band who will be playing,” Pearlman said/. “We work with most if not all the local food vendors who donate both food and their time.”
Since its start, National Night Out in Palmyra has been a success with the community. It allows community members to have a fun night on the town, while also getting to know law enforcement members better.
“Palmyra is a great town with great residents, so it was no surprise it was received very well,” Pearlman said.
Approximately 1,000 residents attended the event a year ago, while the department continues to take feedback from the event each year. Changes to the event each year may draw more people, while keeping the community engaged with the police department.
“There may be changes, we will see,” Pearlman said. “We take input we have heard and sit down and communicate how to make the event even better for the future.”
“As a small town, we try to be as accessible to our residents as possible, and I think the residents come together at all of the events we run throughout the year,” Pearlman said. “Our Youth Academy runs Aug. 7 through Aug. 11, and we will also be holding our second Citizens Police Academy, which will run from Sept. 19 through Nov. 14.”
For more information regarding the National Night Out, call (609) 424–0531 or check out www.boroughofpalmyra.com.
