NIGHT OUT EVENTS TO FOCUS ON KIDS, NEIGHBORHOODS
Byline: By Judi Villa, The Arizona Republic
Donna Neill wants the children in her neighborhood to know that somebody cares about them
and wants them to feel like they belong somewhere.
So she and other residents in the Westwood Community Association in north-central Phoenix are organizing a huge bash just for them.
''Everything that we're doing is all for the kids,'' said Neill, speaking of a party planned for Aug. 2, National Night Out.
''The poor children here - there's not even a basketball court down here. There's not even a park. It's just the saddest thing I've ever seen,'' she said.
Neill's neighborhood, bordered by Camelback and Indian School roads, and 19th Avenue and the Black Canyon Freeway, is among more than 130 neighborhood organizations that have registered National Night Out activities with Phoenix.
At least 200 groups, double the number that participated last year, are expected to take part in the Valley's biggest block party, which coincides with national events. Neighborhood groups from other Valley cities also will be participating.
Tempe's events will include the fourth annual National Night Out Kick-off Celebration from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at Kiwanis Park Recreation Center, 6111 S. All American Way. Activities will include access to the indoor wave pool and double-spiral water slide, the Second Tempe National Night Out Parade, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament and a police canine-unit demonstration. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children ages 3 to 17.
In Mesa, neighbors of Guerrero Rotary Park and students in a summer arts program began repainting three murals Saturday, two at the park and one on the northeast corner of Eighth Avenue and Macdonald Street.
The project, sponsored by the city and the Gang Prevention Steering Committee, will continue from 5 a.m. to noon today and next weekend, and will be complete to coincide with the Aug. 2 National Night Out.
Ice-cream socials. Barbecues. Minicarnivals. Parades. Pony rides. Potlucks.
The list goes on.
In the Neill's Westwood community, there will be costumes, clowns, magic tricks, a march for the children and drawings for an Arizona Cardinals football, a 12- by 14-inch photo of Phoenix Suns player Mark West and other sports memorabilia. There also will be 10-cent Sno-cones, cookies and cakes and a visit from the Fire Department and maybe even a band.
''I want this community to light (up),'' said Neill, who began the community association five months ago. ''That's what I hope. What happens, we'll see, but we're really trying.''
Neill's efforts mirror the citywide theme this year, which is youth, said Richard Fox, president of the Phoenix Block Watch Advisory Board.
The 11th annual National Night Out encourages neighbors to get to know one another and to form block watches to prevent crime. Last year, 25 million people in 8,500 communities from all 50 states, plus U.S. territories and military bases worldwide, participated in National Night Out.
''Focusing people's attention on an issue, even if it's just once a year, does help,'' Fox said. ''It gives neighborhoods another opportunity to get to know each other.''
This year's events kicked off Saturday with the first of four regional events held at local malls.
The citywide start for Phoenix, the National Night Out Neighbors Who Care Fair, will be held next Saturday, begining at 4 p.m. in the City Hall lobby. There will be a Kids Corner with activities just for youngsters, plus clowns, magicians, stilt walkers, give-aways for bicycles and a home-security system, CPR information, pool-safety tips, child fingerprinting and identification processing and information on forming block watches and preventing crime. There also will be a Freedom March, a sunset walk from City Hall to the Arizona Center.
Highlighted will be youths who have made the right choices, forsaking drugs and gangs for more-positive lifestyles.
Because only about 5 percent of youths are responsible for juvenile crime, that leaves 95 percent of that population doing just fine and deserving recognition, Fox said.
''We need to give them the confidence to feel good about themselves so they make better choices,'' he said.
Neill agrees.
''This is where we live our lives. This whole community circles around the school and those kids,'' she said. ''Let's get our act together.''
The events culminate Aug. 2 with an event encouraging people nationwide to turn on their porch lights in the evening to generate interest and create awareness of what neighborhoods can do to protect themselves against crime and provide positive alternatives for children.
The night won't be anything different for Modell Crofton, who lives in the Matthew Henson housing projects in south Phoenix.
''We turn on our porch light every night. The police walk a beat and they ask us to leave our porch lights on until 10 or 11 o'clock,'' Crofton said.
''I leave mine on all night long.''
Chart
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Phoenix's National Night Out Events:
--> Today: Kickoff event, Paradise Valley Mall, 4568 E. Cactus Road.
--> Friday: Kickoff event, Westridge Mall, 7611 W. Thomas Road.
--> Saturday: Neighbors Who Care Fair, Phoenix New City Hall, 200 W. Washington St.
--> July 31: Kickoff Event, Chris-Town Shopping Center, 1703 W. Bethany Home Road.
--> Aug. 2: National Night Out (Turn On Your Porch Light Night), neighborhoods
throughout the Valley.
--> Aug. 7: Strike Out Crime Bowl-A-Thon, Thunderbird Fair Lanes, I-17 and Indian
School Road, Contact: 320-4941.
For more information on any event, call Richard Fox at
253-5020