National Night Out Coming to VSU Front Lawn Aug. 1

VALDOSTA — With a focus on making Valdosta and Lowndes County a safer, more caring place to live, Valdosta State University will host National Night Out from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 1, on the front lawn. This event is free of charge and open to area residents and their families.

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie in an effort to prevent crime. It was first introduced in 1984 by the National Association of Town Watch, a nonprofit organization designed to provide community watch groups with the necessary resources and assets to stay informed, interested, involved, and motivated. It is celebrated across the United States and its territories, in Canada, and on military bases around the world.

The VSU Police Department, Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, Valdosta Police Department, Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Remerton Police Department, Hahira Police Department, Lake Park Police Department, Valdosta Fire Department, Target, The Home Depot, South Georgia Medical Center Mobile Healthcare Services, Moody Air Force Base, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, the Shrine Club of Valdosta, and more are scheduled to attend National Night Out.

There will be a grill station with free hamburgers, hotdogs, and soft drinks. Activities include music; K-9 and safety demonstrations; rock painting and face painting; a kids toolbox-building workshop; a variety of games, including ring toss, inflatable bowling, pin the badge on the officer, corn hole, football throw, and dunk the chiefs; an opportunity to check out different patrol cars, crime scene and fire trucks, ambulances, and a medical helicopter; and more.        

The Air Life helicopter is scheduled to land on the front lawn at 4 p.m.

Contact Sgt. Heidi Bertsch with the VSU Police Department at (229) 333-6024 or hnbertsch@valdosta.edu to learn more.