National Night Out planned

Members of the committee for Putnam County's second annual National Night Out, which is slated for Aug. 5, recently accepted a $1,000 donation from the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Greencastle. Pictured, from left, are committee members and Wal-Mart employees Matt Harrison, Marion Peters, Charlie Boller, Jim Eystad, Tom Sutherlin, Linda Merkel, Rick Alexander, Darcy Hendershot, Karrie Fulford, Patti Harmless, Elizabeth Butts, Rod Weinschenk, Paula Fry, Sarah Morgan, Mace Terry, Eileen Johnson, Charlene Schrewsbury, Jeff Mace, Cheryl Baxter, Brian Hopkins and Tammy Amor.

Putnam County families will have the opportunity to meet their neighbors this summer while helping make their communities safer during the second annual National Night Out.

The event is slated for Aug. 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Robe Ann Park, Greencastle. There will be a variety of family activities and demonstrations available, as well as food and entertainment. Participants will be able to swim for free in the park's pool.

National Night Out is a crime prevention campaign in its 25th year. Night Out events are held throughout the country on the same day. Last year, over 34 million people in 11,000 communities participated in such events.

Focuses of Night Out gatherings are the promotion of police and community partnerships, crime, drug and violence prevention, safety and neighborhood unity.

Many local agencies participated in the local Night Out event in 2007, including Family Support Services, Old National Trails, Mental Health America, Putnam County Youth Development Commission, Putnam County Department of Child Services, Community Partners for Child Safety, the Putnam County Prosecutor's Office, Juvenile Probation and Sheriff's Departments and Excise office, Indiana State, Greencastle and Cloverdale police, DePauw University Public Safety, Putnam County Community Corrections, Greencastle, Bainbridge, Heritage Lake, Cloverdale, Madison Township, Reelsville and Roachdale fire departments, Operation Life, Duke Energy, Vectren and Putnam County Safe Schools.

"We had over 30 agencies participating last year, and anticipate an even larger number this year," said Linda Merkel, Putnam County National Night Out coordinator. "We estimate over 500 attended last year's event, and we hope to double our numbers for 2008."

Recently, the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Greencastle donated $1,000 to the local National Night Out cause.

"We're always looking for ways to help out in the community," said distribution center manager Jim Eystad. "This is obviously a very worthy cause."

In addition to the Wal-Mart donation, funding for this year's local National Night Out events has so far come from Duke Energy and the Prevention, Intervention and Education Coalition.

"We are always open to receiving funds from the community to help support this program," Merkel said.