The city of Montevallo and the town of Wilton came together to celebrate the communities’ support for their police and public safety departments by hosting National Night Out 2010. The event was held in the early evening on Tuesday, Aug. 3, in the Lucky’s Foodland parking lot.

According to its website, this year is the 27th annual National Night Out and has proven to be an effective, inexpensive and enjoyable program to promote neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships in the fight for a safer nation. The Night Out involves more than 35.4 million people in communities from all 50 states.

Wilton’s second and Montevallo’s first Night Out was viewed as a huge success with free hot dogs, drinks, candy and a space bounce, as well as visits with Glock, the canine officer, city policemen, officers from the county sheriff’s department, Montevallo and Brierfield firemen and rescue volunteers.

“Despite the rain shower and the extreme heat, our communities turned out to express their support for the local police and fire departments,” said Wilton Mayor Joe Fancher. “The kids had a wonderful time jumping on the moon bounce and the adults enjoyed the hot dogs and the fans. It was an overall success and we can’t wait for next year to be even bigger and better!”

Mayor Ben McCrory of Montevallo was equally enthusiastic.

“Joining with Wilton was a great idea,” he said. “There was a wonderful turn-out, we gave out lots of children’s DNA identification kits, and although it was our first year, I thought it was a tremendous night of community spirit and camaraderie.”

April Price, Wilton’s town clerk explained that the ID kits were given for each child, and that the resulting DNA registrations will help the police and firemen immeasurably if a child is lost or taken. She added that these types of events help us stay one step ahead of a bad situation; it’s simply a no-brainer.

The city officials and the Chamber of Commerce coordinated the celebration. They expressed appreciation to Lucky’s, who furnished and cooked the hot dogs; to Montevallo Drug, for the drinks and candy; to the Rotary Club members who manned the food booth; to the Chamber of Commerce; and to others who made the night successful.

Price said it best,” It really shows how two communities can come together to support and enjoy one another.”

Catherine Legg can be reached by email at clegg2@bellsouth.net.