By Lisa Trigg
TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute’s own National Night Out event has been ranked seventh in the nation among the award winners announced for National Night Out 2009.
The Terre Haute Police Department, which has taken leadership of the local event, is thankful for all the local sponsors and participants.
“It is an honor and a privilege for the City of Terre Haute to achieve such a high ranking in as prominent a national event as National Night Out,” said event organizer David Smith.
“This achievement could not have been accomplished without the help, dedication and cooperation of all those involved in the planning and implementation of our program.”
More than 100 businesses and organizations participated in this year’s event at Fairbanks Park, and months of planning went into the effort. The city also announced a new partnership with The Sherwin Williams Co. to combat the local graffiti problem by providing paint for those wanting to remove graffiti from their property.
Terre Haute’s seventh-place ranking among communities with populations from 50,000 to 100,000 residents was the highest achievement among the many Indiana communities participating in the nationwide event. The city of Brownsburg ranked 20th in communities with 15,000 to 50,000 residents and Evansville ranked 25th among cities with 100,000 to 250,000 residents.
Smith said the success of National Night Out is a reflection on the community of Terre Haute and what can be accomplished when people come together and work collectively on such a large endeavor.
“We look forward to getting together next year and planning a successful National Night Out 2010,” Smith said.
National Night Out is a project of the National Association of Town Watch, an organization dedicated to the development and promotion of organized law enforcement-affiliated crime- and drug-prevention programs. The nationwide event is usually scheduled for the first Tuesday in August.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
