Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Hundreds of Saucon Valley residents and the police officers who protect and serve them came together for fun at National Night Out events held in Hellertown borough and Lower Saucon Township Tuesday.

National Night Out is an initiative promoting police-community partnerships that began as a grassroots effort in Texas in the 1970s with the goal of making neighborhoods safer. Since 1984, the campaign has culminated each August with National Night Out events which are held by hundreds of local police departments in the communities all across the country.

Hellertown Police held their NNO event in Dimmick Park. Highlights included a live performance by the band Tequila Rose, food trucks, vendors, fire trucks and ambulances on display, an obstacle course, a police dunk tank, a Moon Bounce, glitter tattoos, face painting, games, children’s activities and more. The department shared a map of the park prior to the event.

Lower Saucon Police Department’s NNO event was held in Town Hall Park and featured a DJ, food vendors, an ice cream truck, face painting, balloon animals, a bounce house, a basket raffle, an auto extrication demonstration with Lower Saucon Fire Rescue, a Police vs. Kids water balloon battle, a K9 demonstration, police and fire vehicles on display, tugs of war with police and other teams, carriage rides through the park and more.

Both events were held from 5 to 8 p.m. and drew large numbers of attendees, on what turned out to be a mild evening. Both departments received support for their National Night Out celebrations from various local businesses and other sponsors.

Lower Saucon Township Police Department’s National Night Out Event