PHOENIX PARTY IS WARM-UP FOR NEIGHBORHOOD BASHES
170 AREAS IN CITY PLANNING GET-TO-KNOW EVENTS
Byline: By Donna Hogan, THE PHOENIX GAZETTE
Phoenix is planning a big party for Saturday night, and everybody in town is invited.
The mayor and the police chief have RSVP'd, and the sheriff is coming with the posse.
All the hoopla is a citywide pep rally for the 170 or more neighborhood parties scheduled for Tuesday night when Phoenix and Valley cities join other U.S. cities for National Night Out.
''This is all to get people's attention, and to encourage them to go out Tuesday night and get to know their neighbors,'' said Richard Fox, president of the Phoenix Block Watch Advisory Board.
Fox said this is the eighth year the city has participated in the National Night Out program, and it's the biggest celebration yet.
He expects the number of neighborhoods taking part Tuesday to more than double last year's figure of 90. He said there are at least 170 neighborhood events planned, and his office gets notices of others at the rate of five to 10 a day.
Fox said each community designs its own party. Some just plan to turn on the lights and gather in the street for cookies and punch. Others have scheduled cookouts or potluck dinners. One east Phoenix community has planned an electric light parade through the neighborhood. Others have planned small carnivals.
City officials and community leaders plan to stop by as many of the local festivities as possible. Mothers Against Gangs has commandeered a trolley to shuttle some City Council members around.
John Augustyn, spokesman for the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, said Saturday's festival will focus on crime prevention by helping children find alternatives to drugs and gangs.
''We consider downtown to be everybody's neighborhood,'' Augustyn said. ''We're all in this together.''
Fox said the Arizona Center will be lighted to spell ''NNO'' and partygoers will be handed glow sticks or penlights to brighten the night.
Fox said it doesn't matter how simple or elaborate the community events are as long as they bring people together.
''People will have an excuse to get to know each other,'' he said. ''It bridges gaps, helps solve problems in the community and prevents crime. If the kids in a neighborhood know the other kids and if the kids' parents know the other kids' parents they watch out for each other.''
Fox said he hopes the events will focus national attention on crime in the streets the way the O.J. Simpson case focused attention on domestic violence.
He said that only 5 percent of youths are involved in drive-by shootings and other violent crimes. He said he wants to reach them and celebrate the other 95 percent.
Sophia Lopez, director of the Arizona chapter of Mothers Against Gangs, said getting the community together one night a year can have lasting effects.
''It teaches kids, even gang members, that they can get involved doing positive things instead of negative things,'' she said. ''Kids get other kids motivated.''
Chart
Night Out events
Events in Phoenix on Saturday in preparation for Tuesday's National Night Out:
--> 4 p.m. -- Phoenix City Hall, 200 W. Washington St., will open for the ''Neighbors
Who Care Fair.'' Scheduled are self-defense and CPR lessons, and child fingerprinting.
--> 8 p.m. -- A parade including the mounted Sheriff's Posse around the Arizona Center,
Third and Van Buren streets. A party at the center will continue until about 11 p.m.
--> Free parking is available at City Hall, and shuttles will ferry motorists to the
Arizona Center.