HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – An annual effort to foster good will between first responders and the community occurred on Tuesday (Aug. 3, 2021).
Holland and Zeeland were among a number of municipalities across the country that will be participating in the “National Night Out” effort. At Kollen Park, there were food trucks, car seat checks, a demonstration from the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 unit, a moonlighting DJ, over 20 community resource booths, a self-defense demonstration, the Polar Patrol Ice Cream Truck from Holland Police, obstacle courses, story time from Herrick District Library, the weekly Holland American Legion Band performance at the band shell and more. A similar event occurred on Elm Street in front of the Splash Pad in Zeeland.
According to Holland Police Captain Keith Mulder, this was a “great community team building thing.”
“It’s a celebration of the partnership between the community and the police, fire fighters and public safety in general,” he said on “WHTC Talk of the Town” program during a recent appearance. “It’s really a way for kids to see different equipment from the various public safety departments, and to have good interaction and fun out there.”
The initiative for making communities safer and more caring places to live and work began in Pennsylvania in 1970, and it helped establish the National Association of Town Watch that made the effort a nationwide one in 1984. Other participating entities in West Michigan included communities in and around Grand Rapids and Muskegon, as well as Benton Harbor/St. Joseph.
A photo gallery of images from the two local National Night Out events is here.
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