National Night Out Report: A Good Time was had by All...

Close to forty folks ventured out from their air conditioned homes, away from important television viewing and Internet surfing, and braved the elements of a setting sun, a very warm breeze and the potential for the dreaded Texas-sized mosquitoes that have taken over our fair city, all to meet with friends and neighbors, enjoy some hot dogs and chili, fruits, chips and lots of great deserts. And in taking this brave alternative to a normal Tuesday evening in San Antonio, they helped in a greater cause shared by other participating citizens all over the country to, as McGruff the crime dog might say, take a bite out of crime.

We were spared rain and the brutal heat that is usually common this time of year and for the most part, even the mosquitoes tried to be civil towards us. this combination of good luck made the setting for our group to sit around and enjoy chatting with neighbors who we always seem to wave hello to but never really get a chance to talk with.

Thanks to Mrs. Betty Hood, the Great Northwest National Night Out coordinator, we received several gift certificates to area merchants that were raffled off. These merchants included Flowers Plus, Simply the Best Pro Cuts, Chick-fil-a, Red Lobster, Marie Callenders, Sportsman's Warehouse, IMAX, Crumpets Restaurant, and McDonald's Hal-John Inc. Additionally, my favorite grocer ever, HEB provided lots of pastries and cakes and such. Finally, as you may know, Target is the national sponsor for the National Night Out program. We had a really nice banner provided by Target and we got a special visit from Yvonne Rios who provided the kids with pinwheels and activity books.

Other prominent guests to our party included Mr. Lee Besing and Ms. Sigrid Long, both Directors on the Board of the GNW Community Improvement Association, and Mr. Jose Morlett, the acting community manager for GNWCIA. Mr. Morlett was accompanied by members of his staff and the Passages Newspaper.

We were especially pleased to have visits from Chief Roger Burton and several of his officers on the GNW Security Force, San Antonio Police Department, Constables office, and San Antonio's Code Compliance department.

We never did have a specific agenda of events such as games (watermelon spitting contest?), or speeches from the local dignitaries who visited, but some of the younger children were happy to assist with our makeshift raffle for the door prizes. Others enjoyed the use of colored chalk on the driveway, so as to practice their future tagging skills (just kidding).

Perhaps next year, we can bust out some of those padded outfits and do front yard sumo wrestling. Given my girth and the number of hot dogs I ate last night, I doubt I'll have to wear one of the fat suits.

In the end, I think everyone was pretty pleased with how things turned out. We held a party last year but did not bother to go through the registration process. I'd say that the added bonus of the police visits and of course, all the goodies provided for the party made it that much better. So, mark your calenders now because we are ready to do it again next year.

Here are a few more pictures to take a gander at.

More members from the Constables office swing by looking for potential suspects!