Sammamish celebrates National Night Out

MacDuff the Crime Dog, Smokey Bear and Sparky the Fire Dog had nothing on the real heroes at the Sammamish National Night Out celebration.

The party is held yearly in recognition of the importance of knowing your neighbors and preventing crime. The kids who attended the hot, afternoon event at the Sammamish Commons on Tuesday clearly relished the chance to get some one-on-one face time with their heroes, police and firefighters — as well as checking out the gear and vehicles they use to do their jobs.

Oh, and the rubber bear scat on display at the Fish and Wildlife booth. Kids will be kids, after all.

Parker Smith, 5, was just one of the fans of the rubber bear scat. He was enthusiastic about the whole event, though.

“We like everything,” Parker declared.

He was enjoying the event with his friends, brothers Arnav, 4, and 19-month-old Aarav Anjali.

“It’s cool. It’s very informative,” said Arnav and Aarav’s mother, Anjali.

The displays ranged from the King County Sheriff’s armored personnel carrier vehicle and vintage police vehicles to firetrucks, a police motorcycle, information on K-9 units and fingerprinting. There were stickers, crayons, balloons and, of course, a rockin’ kids’ band.

“It’s amazing,” said Kristy Wheeler, who brought her 6-year-old son, Benson. “I love talking with all the departments.” Benson was enthralled with getting a chance to turn on the flashing lights in a Fish and Wildlife truck.

A former police sergeant and president of the Citizen Corps, Kent Kiernan, said he has been involved in order to stay connected and continue helping people.

“National Night Out is a great way to build that community,” Kiernan said, noting that neighbors should consider forming a Map Your Neighborhood group. “You become dependent on one another.”

The program helps neighbors organize so that they’ll respond better as a group to help one another during an emergency. During the bad windstorm last year, Kiernan said neighbors from throughout his cul du sac came together to chop up about 10 fallen trees so that they could get out of the neighborhood.

“We’ve all got to help each other,” he said.

The celebration at the Commons was followed by individual National Night Out gatherings in neighborhoods throughout Sammamish.

At the Summer Ridge neighborhood’s fourth annual celebration Tuesday evening, a handful of kids rode trikes and bicycles in the street, their voices audible from several blocks away. The kids’ parents and other neighbors mingled and talked around a table holding root beer and ice cream. Glow sticks that kids and others have snapped together into necklaces emit a soft, green light.

Suddenly as the King County Sheriff’s armored personnel carrier pulls into the neighborhood with sirens wailing, kids scream and adults let out loud whoops. The children immediately edged toward the carrier — a V-150 affectionately known as “Irene” — and, after receiving permission, climb in and get their pictures taken by their parents.

“I love my neighbors, and I want to be prepared if anything was to happen,” said event organizer Cindy VanWambeck, a massage therapist and member of the Sammamish Citizen’s Corps. “We watch out for each other. If there’s a different car or different person around here, we usually know it. ... The main reason (that we do National Night Out) is so we can all know each other and the kids see us and know us, too, and know that we’re safe.”

Sammamish Police and Sheriff’s deputies took the personnel carrier to several of the neighborhood National Night Out celebrations.

En route to another party, Irene’s driver, Deputy Peter Cougan asked a reporter and other officers, “Ready to roll?”

Sammamish Sgt. Bob Baxter yelled during the trip, “Rides like a sports car!” Cougan laughed, replying “A 12-ton sports car!”

The vehicle is stationed in Kenmore and used to rescue people from inside a building in situations such as school shootings, or to rescue people stranded in floods.

At the Deer Park neighborhood, Irene and police also received a warm welcome.

“At first I thought, ‘That is unusual, and it’s so cool!’” exclaimed McAuliffe Elementary School second-grader Caden Silver-Licht, 6.

McAuliffe kindergartner Molly Milton, 5, said she loved playing with her friends.

Molly’s mom, Jaimee Milton, who organized the event and works in human resources at Boeing, said the kids had really been looking forward to the celebration.

“We’re a really close neighborhood. We get together on a regular basis,” Milton said. “This is just a great opportunity for us to demonstrate to the rest of the community how close we are to each other. When we’re out of town, we’re keeping an eye on each others’ homes.”

Editor’s note: For a look at Issaquah’s National Night Out celebration, turn to page 12.

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