Hundreds Attend National Night Out

Around 400 locals toured the booths and engaged in family activities at Lilburn's National Night Out, or America's Night Out Against Crime, at Lilburn City Park on Tuesday evening.

"With an event involving safety topics, it shows that people want to be involved in this and the community," said Lilburn Police Chief Bruce Hedley, who was present at the event.

Hedley continued to say he's proud of the community because the huge turnout shows that locals want to be involved.

More than a dozen organizations, from the Eastside Medical Center, Blue Bell Ice Cream, Safe Kids, and Gwinnett and Lilburn PDs, set up tents at the second annual event to spread the word on safety awareness. Everything from drowning, poison, car booster seats, choking and fire safety were touched on throughout the different tents.

Most booths had fun activities and food to make the evening fun, including free ice cream from Blue Bell, Snoopy dolls, face painting and T-shirts. K-9 Unit demonstrations topped off the evening to show the public how the dogs are trained and what they're capable of doing. The dogs, which came from various police departments in Gwinnett, demonstrated just how vicious they can bite on command as they bit the padded sleeve of a police officer. 

In between the demos and activities, though, patrons checked out the booths. One particular tent, the Gwinnett Citizen Fire Academy Alumni Association, asked adults and children a list of fire safety questions, ranging from fire escape plans, working fire extinguishers and trying to put out fires. 

Iron Sky also had a table set up, complete with a television and laptop, to demonstrate the live video feed it has of the multiple cameras around Lilburn, including the Camp Creek Greenway Trail. In two weeks, the city will have 33 total cameras, which marks the end of phase two from Iron Sky. 

Angela Alessandroni, who has been a Lilburn resident for nine months, said she feels safer because of the surveillance cameras. 

"Often in the park, it's just the two of us," Alessandroni said, referring to she and her husband. "It can feel empty, so it's good to know there's some oversight." 

The Four Winds Neighborhood Watch also had its own tent. Even though its president, Steve Holevoet, just started the association in May, it's already gained more than 100 members. 

Holevoet has lived in Lilburn for 26 years and has been in the Four Winds subdivision for 22 years. SafetySmart Lilburn Inc., an organization that assists in community safety, has been guiding the Four Winds Watch since its inception, and Holevoet said the watch may "graduate" from the SafetySmart program in just three months. 

The neighborhood watch has monthly meetings at the Four Winds pool. Its next meeting is next Tuesday, Aug. 9, at 6:30 p.m.

Other organizations such as the Right from the Start Medicaid Outreach Program were present to help spread the word on their mission and cause, too. Sandra Ibarra, who headed its table, said that the program is open to pregnant women, children and low-income families. 

"We're happy for getting the word out," Ibarra said. "With the economic situation that we're in, a lot of people are without health insurance. I'm glad we can help them out."