Charlotte, NC— Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation and the West Blvd Neighborhood Coalition celebrate the 2008 National Night Out on August 5, 6pm-9pm, at Arbor Glen Outreach Center, 1520 Clanton Road. 

This event is FREE for all who wish to attend and offers food, music, a dance contest, PRIZES and many fun activities. Participating neighborhoods include Arbor Glen, Barringer Woods, Brent Oaks Apartments, Boulevard Homes, Capitol Drive, Clanton Park, Kingspark Apartments, Little Rock Apartments, Parker Heights Apartments, Pinecrest, Ponderosa, Reid Park, Revolution Park, Roseland Apartments, Sandhurst Apartments, Westover Hills, and Wingate.

National Night Out, now in its 25th year, is a demonstration aimed against crime and drugs by the National Association of Town Watch  (NATW). Town Watch estimates that last year more than 34 million people participated in the United States and Canada in more than 10,000 communities in all 50 states. National Night Out started as a program for people to leave their front lights on and get to know their neighbors in a showing that average people can “take back their neighborhoods” against crime. Over time it came to include block parties, cookouts, parades, visits from law enforcement personnel, youth programs, etc.

Other participating sponsors for this year’s event are Neighborhoods United, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, City Dive, Vision Charlotte, and the Stratford Richardson YMCA.