National Night Out should be back on Aug. 2, this time hosted by Medina

Photo by Tom Rivers: A crowd of about 1,000 people attended the last National Night Out at Bullard Park in Albion on Aug. 6, 2019. One highlight was the “Battle of Belts.” Dillon Black, front right, and Dan Baase, both of the Albion Police Department, were part of a four-man team of law enforcement officers. They topped two other adult teams with a time of 51.39 seconds. The teams compete to see who is the fastest getting into car and fastening their seatbelts. Each member then must switch seats and again fasten their seat belts. The time ends when each person has sat in each seat in the car and the horn is honked.

MEDINA – The National Night Out, a family-friendly event that gives the public a chance to meet police officers and local agencies, should be back this year on Aug. 2.

The event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions on crowd sizes. About 1,000 people attended the last National Night Out in August 2019.

The first five events were held at Bullard Park in Albion. The next one will shift to Medina and be hosted on the school campus.

Medina Police Chief Chad Kenward is taking the lead from the law enforcement community in planning the event with local agency leaders. Roland Nenni, retired Albion police chief, was a key leader for the event from 2015 to 2019.

Kenward announced to the Medina Village Board on Monday that law enforcement and local agencies are working on planning the National Night Out.

He was praised by Village Trustee Jessica Marciano for helping with an event that helps build positive relationships between law enforcement and local residents.

Participants in the event usually include law enforcement, fire agencies, EMS responders, civic organizations and other groups that will be providing activities, demonstrations and giveaways.

The event at Bullard Park featured free hot dogs and water, child seat inspections with free replacements, a bike rodeo with bikes on hand, helmet giveaways, and other activities as well as the Battle of Belts where teams race around a car and have to safely get buckled in.