Community Corner

SafetySmart Lilburn Gears Up for National Night Out

The safety-focused community group is the organizer for Lilburn's National Night Out taking place Aug. 2.

Since its founding in June 2010  has been bringing safety awareness to residents across the area.

The brainchild of former Police Chief John Davidson, SafetySmart Liliburn has been instrumental in mobilizing local communities to take issues of safety into their own hands.

"When you take a common interest like safety you're able to bring neighbors together and eventually neighborhoods," said the group's Thor Johnson. "Eventually the fear of the unknown fades and people no longer feel like strangers. Lilburn SafetySmart has been an excellent resource to accomplish that."

Find out what's happening in Lilburn-Mountain Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Last month Johnson stepped down from his role as president to focus on ways fundraising efforts for SafetySmart. The organization is completely run by volunteers and depends on local sponsorship to put on events such as National Night Out, scheduled this Tuesday at Lilburn City Park.

Thirty-five vendors will be participating in Tuesday's event, including the Lilburn Police Department and the East Side Medical Center. Police Chief Bruce Hedley will be demonstrating the Iron Sky security system that is on the Greenway Trail, and canine units from six different Gwinnett County cities will be there to demonstrate the police dogs skills. Entertainment will be provided by a barbershop quarter, and free food will be available from sponsors such as Joes’ to Go, Papa John’s, Los Hermanos and the Oyster Barn. 

Find out what's happening in Lilburn-Mountain Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Current SafetySmart president Margot Ashley has been blown away by the community response for Tuesday’s event.

"I’m very encouraged by the number of people that have been involved in planning this event as well as the number of vendors participating," said Ashley. "Last year we had 300 people attend National Night out. This year we are expecting around 500.”

In the months leading up to National Night Out, SafetySmart Lilburn has been focusing most of its efforts on organizing neighborhood watch groups. To date, it has helped form a half-dozen watch groups in communities throughout Lilburn. While these results are encouraging Johnson hopes to further diversify the groups of people who participate in SafetySmart.

“Right now we have six core members of SafetySmart. We could really benefit from having more young people as well as people from all backgrounds,” said Johnson. “In order to truly make our communities safe we need to have an organization that is truly a reflection of the people who live in Lilburn.”

Lilburn's National Night out will take place in the City Park Pavilion from 6 p.m.- 8:30p.m. For more details visit www.safetysmartliburn.com or check out the Lilburn National Night Out Video attached to this file.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here