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by Karen Lewis

The 2008 City of Heath Night Out hosted by the Heath Department of Public Safety promises to be another great community gathering with all of the favorite activities plus a few new features.

The most important change will be the weather, as the event moves from its traditional date in early August to October 7, when pleasant evening temperatures should be in the 70s or even 60s instead of those scorching summer highs. Heath Night Out will be held at Towne Center Park behind Heath City Hall at 200 Laurence Drive from 6:30 to 9:30. Family-friendly activities include giant inflatables, games, food and music.

"The purpose of Heath Night Out is to bring the community together to meet and visit with other residents and their department of public safety personnel," says Heath DPS Chief Terry Garrett. "By moving the event to a cooler season, we’re hoping to encourage more people than ever to come participate in a family-friendly, fun evening outdoors."

According to Chief Garrett, other Texas and Southern cities received approval last year from the National Night Out organization to move their community and neighborhood events to the fall and experienced great attendance.

Another new feature at the 2008 Heath Night Out will be a giant, outdoor inflatable movie screen set up to debut the gripping documentary "Into the Fire" directed by Academy Award® winner Bill Couturié. The documentary is a powerful and moving look into the hearts and minds of America’s firefighters and is presented by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company as part of the company’s founding social mission to support firefighters for safer communities.

"An important goal for us when we present Heath Night Out is to be able to connect with the citizens we serve and share ideas, suggestions and important crime prevention and safety messages," says Community Resource Officer Brian Burton. "We are very pleased to be able to present ‘Into the Fire’ to help residents understand how important their involvement and support is to ensure the highest levels of protection and service for their homes, businesses and families."

In addition to funding "Into the Fire", Fireman’s Fund, through its Heritage Rewards program and its agency partner Waldman Bros., will present a $10,000 grant to the Heath Department of Public Safety for the purchase of public safety education equipment that will be demonstrated during the event. Representatives from both organizations will attend the event.

Lauren Bailey, regional underwriting executive with Fireman’s Fund explains,"On a corporate level, we look to emulate principals of the fire service by being courageous, caring, inspired and dependable and are honored to support the efforts of the Heath Public Safety Department through this grant, with our partner Waldman Bros."

While "Into the Fire" is geared towards adults, there will be plenty of action for the youngsters in the crowd. The pleasant evening temperatures will be ideal for jumping and climbing on the inflatables, playing games, getting their faces painted and enjoying music.

There will also be a wide selection of popular fair-style foods available at nominal prices. Selections will range from corn dogs, hot dogs and fresh cut fries to funnel cakes, homemade fried pies and even fried pickle chips. Nothing on the menu will be over $3.50 and, as always, snow cones will be served free of charge.

"In past years our personnel would grill and serve hot dogs," explains Officer Burton. "But we found that we were so busy with food preparation, that we were missing out on the main goal of the event, which is to meet and mingle with the community we serve. By bringing in food vendors, our officers can get out from behind the grill and into the crowd."

In presenting Heath Night Out, the city supports a U.S. tradition that began 24 years ago when the first National Night Out was established to heighten awareness and strengthen participation in local anti-crime efforts in neighborhoods throughout the country.

That first year in 1984, 400 communities in 23 states participated in National Night Out. In subsequent years, participation has grown steadily with over 35.4 million people in 11,310 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide participating in Night Out activities in 2007.

"While the one night is certainly not an answer to crime, drugs and violence, this program does represent the kind of spirit, energy and determination that is helping to make many neighborhoods safer places throughout the year," says Chief Garrett. "Heath Night Out gives us a chance to celebrate safety and crime prevention successes—and to expand and strengthen programs for the next 364 days by strengthening our relationships with each other."

For more information about the Heath DPS, visit www.heathtx.com.