National Night Out returns Aug. 6 to downtown Redmond

Published 9:00 am Thursday, August 1, 2024

Redmond residents can splash in fountains, eat s’mores and learn about local law enforcement practices and resources at National Night Out on Aug. 6 in Redmond.

The free annual gathering will run from 6-8 p.m. at Redmond’s Centennial Park. The event is organized by Redmond Police Department.

There will be educational demonstrations, a barbecue, donut eating contest and activities for children. All are welcome.

According to Redmond Police Captain Jesse Peterson, there will be more than 20 community partners on site ready to chat about crime prevention and awareness. Additionally, there will be local nonprofits at the event showing off their services as well.

Police will show off their K-9 training program, which will show how dogs learn to apprehend someone and detect drugs. Peterson said there will be dummy decoys to show how the canines bite and a scenario for the dogs to figure out.

Toward the end of the night, Peterson said there will be an opportunity for people to “meet and greet the dogs” with their handlers.

Precious Byrd will perform live music. Children can enjoy bounce houses, face painting, balloon artists, caricature artists, a visit from Smokey Bear and a dunk tank.

“They love the dunk tank because they like seeing the superintendent for the Redmond School District (Charan) Cline there,” Peterson said. “They get a chance to dunk him in the dunk tank, as well as the chief of police and we’ll have some school resource officers in there, too.”

Centennial Park’s Spray Park will remain open until 8 p.m. for kids and anyone else to splash around in and keep cool from the summer heat.

The donut eating contest is a fan favorite. Petersen said he hopes a Redmond officer will bring home the title this year.

“I threw out a ringer one year and I used one of our canines in the donut eating contest,” Peterson said. “I used a little donut biscuit for them that was dog-friendly. But I had to disqualify them even though they were super fast because they left crumbs.”

The Redmond Kiwanis Club will host a cornhole tournament for kids, allowing participants to win “all kinds of fun toys,” Peterson said.

Roughly 2,000 people attended last year’s National Night Out. Petersen said its a good opportunity for neighbors to get to know each other and the law enforcement crews around them.

“It’s our way of saying thank you for all the support you show us and come and meet us and see who we are,” he said.