By Katie Harris

The Surveyor

Larimer County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) will host National Night Out (NNO) on Tuesday, Aug. 1, from 5-8:30 p.m. at Pioneer Park in Berthoud.

National Night Out was started in 1984 in Philadelphia, Pa., with the goal of promoting police-community partnerships and neighborhood awareness. The annual event is typically held on the first Tuesday in August and is expected to generate the participation of over 38 million neighborhoods nationwide this year, according to www.nno.org.

This will be the second year LCSO brings the event to Berthoud. Last year the local event saw close to 300 attendees.

“NNO is usually specific to a neighborhood, but we decided last year that we needed to get the whole town together in a meeting place for a start,” said LCSO Berthoud Squad Patrol Sergeant Jim Anderson. “We need to tear down our barriers and join together in making this a great community.”

Anderson said the goal of this year’s event is to get people out of their homes and engaging in dialogue with other people from the community, stating safety is the job of all community members, not just law enforcement, fire departments, and emergency medical services.

“A cohesive community is a safer community,” he said. “When a disaster hits your community, the best thing to have next to you is your neighbor.”

LCSO is teaming up with the Town of Berthoud this year to bring local emergency service agencies out to Pioneer Park, on E. Second Street and Indiana Avenue, to meet with community members and answer questions. Berthoud Fire will be on scene, along with an ambulance, a patrol car, the bomb squad, and neighborhood watch.

Vendors; including Summit Taco, Poppin Kettle Drum, Curbed Hunger, Glass of Art and Integrated Chiropractic will also be set up along East Second Street. A local Girl Scout troop will be at the event serving up s’mores and hosting an activity for guests.

LCSO is encouraging community members to host neighborhood block parties in honor of NNO on Aug. 1, in addition to attending the Pioneer Park event.

“We want to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live,” said Anderson. “When something bad happens in town, let’s get away from saying ‘this is a disaster, what are you going to do about it,’ and change it to ‘this is a disaster, how can I help?’”

For those unable to attend the event, but interested in connecting with their local law enforcement agency, Anderson suggested attending Coffee with a Cop every third Thursday at 2 p.m. at Da Bean, or calling LCSO at 970-416-1985 and asking how they, as citizens of the Berthoud area, can help keep the community safe.