Mansfield neighborhoods celebrate National Night Out

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

The smell of frying funnel cakes wafts over the community park in the Mill Valley neighborhood, while youngsters scream and jump on the fire engine bounce house, a disc jockey calls out raffle winners and kids and adults check out the fire engine and police vehicles parked in the street.

National Night Out brought out a huge crowd of neighbors to celebrate and socialize Tuesday at more than 30 neighborhoods across Mansfield, including the largest crowd the Mill Valley neighborhood just off Texas 360 has had in the three years it has celebrated the event, said Kayla Arnold, who runs the neighborhood social committee with Kelsey Lindsey and Elissa Worster.

The committee lined up food trucks, bounce houses, vendors, raffles and a disc jockey to set up in the community park. Mayor Michael Evans and council members Juan Fresquez, Tamara Bounds and Todd Tonore stopped by, as did the H-E-B mascot, Buddy.

“This is what I grew up with in South Arlington,” Lindsey said. “I always looked forward to it as a kid, playing with kids and getting stickers.”

As fun as the event is, Lindsey points out that there are good reasons for National Night Out.

“It’s an effective way for the police to engage on safety precautions,” she said. “It creates relationships between the community and law enforcement. It’s important for kids to humanize the badge.”

Mansfield police officer Cecily Santana agrees, pointing out that National Night Out is one of the chances that police officers have to interact with the public in a positive way.

National Night Out dates back to 1984, when volunteers, neighborhood watch groups, civic groups, state and regional crime prevention groups launched the first night out with 2.5 million people in 400 communities in 23 states. The event is now celebrated across the country with more than 38 million people in 17,000 communities. Most celebrate in August, but due to the heat, Texas communities observe National Night Out in October.

“It’s one of my favorite events of the year,” Mansfield police officer Trey Kerr told a gathering at Ladera at The Reserve retirement community off East Debbie Lane.

The event gives the neighborhood “a feeling of community,” said resident Claudia Livingston, pointing out that it’s good to see the police officers in a non-stressful situation. “They are human beings, just like us.”

The atmosphere in the community’s clubhouse was different for National Night Out, with residents asking questions about local crimes. While residents munched on Jimmy John’s sandwiches, police officers addressed their questions about identity theft, traffic and thefts.

“There’s not much happening here because if y’all see something, you call us,” Kerr told the group. “One of the best things you can do is contact us if you see something suspicious.”

Kelsey Arnold says they have a similar situation in the Mill Valley neighborhood, a small neighborhood of 88 homes.

“This is just to get to know our neighbors,” Arnold said. “We know our neighbors. We call when we see something.”

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