Residents and safety personnel, not to mention food trucks, make this NNO party something to look forward to.

By Mary O’KEEFE

National Night Out was held on Tuesday night and neighbors across the country stepped out to meet each other, police and fire personnel – all in an effort to bring communities closer.

Sparr Heights Connect and Prepare is an organization that was started by Sparr Heights residents Ron and Melody Scott.

“It’s a [mix of] Neighborhood Watch and disaster preparedness,” Ron said. “It’s just community building.”

On Tuesday, residents of Sparr Heights Connect and Prepare closed Sunview Drive between Buena Vista and Las Palmas avenues. Food trucks were brought in and firefighters with the Glendale Fire Dept. brought a fire engine to explore. Glendale police walked down the street talking to residents and answering all types of questions.

The first noticeable thing at the NNO event was the number of kids in the neighborhood. There were young kids running and playing and other children in strollers while parents talked with other parents. The event was exactly what, at its foundation, is what NNO was designed to be: A night when residents who may just wave at each other every once in a while actually take time to talk and get to know each other.

Ron added the Sparr Heights group has already participated in the American Red Cross program titled Map Your Neighborhood (MYN). The program was designed by Washington Emergency Management and implemented by American Red Cross. Its purpose is to improve disaster readiness at the neighborhood level. MYN teaches neighbors to rely on each other and helps communities “fill the gap” between Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and individual preparedness, according to Neighborhood Councils Empower LA.

In addition, the Sparr Heights group is planning to be part of the Great ShakeOut earthquake drills on Oct. 21.

“We are building momentum,” Ron said.

He and Melody were happy with the turnout on Sunview and are eager to see next year’s event as more neighbors get involved.

Ginger Galloway is a resident of Sparr Heights who lives on Las Palmas Avenue. She and her daughter Elizabeth were at a table where they invited people to sign thank you signs for the GPD for their community policing. There were several such tables throughout the neighborhood.

“I have met people I have never met before,” Ginger said of NNO.

She has lived in the neighborhood for over 20 years and has noticed new families moving in. She said having an NNO event was good not only for meeting the Glendale community officers but also to meet the firefighters. An NNO event was planned for last year but due to the pandemic that was put on hold.

“Next year we want to have more games,” she said. “It was just fun to see all the young families.”

Glendale police Sgt. Teal Metts was on hand to meet and greet.

“We do this once a year and it’s important to get out and meet everyone,” Metts said. “Just walking through I heard people introducing themselves to each other, which is really cool whether it is a new resident or people [who] didn’t know each other and only live a block away.”

Whitney Katzer is a teacher at Crescenta Valley High School and has been in the community her entire life. She joined the Sparr Heights group to get to know her neighbors and to know what programs are available.

“I have grown up in the community and we all know each other but it is really nice to get together with everybody,” she said.

Katzer added she felt these types of organizations and NNO can be important for preventing neighborhood crimes because “once you get to know one another you look out for one another.”

“We are safer together if we know each other,” she said.