An event aimed at connecting first responders and neighbors around the U.S. has hit four decades.
This year’s National Night Out was the first for local resident Cilicia Williams and her son, but she already saw the positive impact when out for the event at the William Emslie YMCA.
"Just getting the community involved, coming around, seeing what's going different health things going on, different screenings, information, just educating the public and just bringing people together,” she said.
Cazenovia Neighborhood Library President John Klukowski Sr. has been helping organize National Night Out events at the library close to 15 years. Events were much simpler when they started, but they still carry the same community focused goal, he said.
“It's a big event for, you know, working with the police and the fire departments and all you know, community organizations. And that's what we do here," Klukowski. "We reach out and trying to get the public to get together as a neighborhood.”
National Night Out is an initiative started in the 1980s, which now includes more than 15,000 participating communities around the country.
