By Mary O’KEEFE, Eliza PARTIKA & Ruth SOWBY

On Tuesday, Nibley Park in Glendale held a National Night Out (NNO) event hosted by the Rossmoyne/Mountain Homeowners Association. NNO is an opportunity for neighborhoods to bring issues of concern to local law enforcement and fire departments. It is also a chance for community gatherings that includes local organizations and businesses. The event was the first stop of the evening for Glendale Police Dept. Chief Robert William and Glendale Fire Chief Jeff Brooks. From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. several hundred neighbors gathered to sip, sup and socialize in the shadow of three food trucks. The crowd asked questions of law enforcement and first responders.  

“As a lifelong Glendalian, serving this community is deeply personal,” said Chief William.  

  Lorna Vartanian, president of the Rossmoyne/Mountain Homeowners Association, referred to the Glendale Police Dept., the Glendale Fire Dept. and Community Services and Parks agencies as their “partners in coming together” in presenting the evening.  

“We have been hosting [National] Night Out since 2010,” said Vartanian. Popular this year was a raffle to introduce neighbors to small businesses in the community.       

The kids were kept busy with face painting, balloon animals, the Disney movie “WALL-E” and plenty of free ice cream. Lev Malkin, 7, stood in line for ice cream. He liked his face painting of an orange, bunny face. Mom Talia Malkin was worried Lev wouldn’t want to wash his face. All smiles, Lucy Marmarian, 3, could leave the park with her balloon animal accompanied by Mother Kristine Marmarian.     

In the Crescenta Valley, several other organizations hosted NNO activities. 

At the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. (LASD)/Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, NNO was a community event that featured local elected officials and representatives from the La Crescenta Library and Crescenta Valley Water District, just to name a few. 

The CV Station event included numerous personnel along with members of the California Highway Patrol, the US Forest Service – including Smokey Bear – and the fire department from NASA at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Special Olympics also had a booth. CV Sheriffs have supported the local games for years and continued its support by having a dunk tank. A donation to Special Olympics got the donor a chance to dunk station captain Ryan Vienna (among others). Vienna ended up being dunked quite often.

Personnel at CV Station offered guests a free meal of hot dogs, chips and a drink. 

At the beginning of the evening, Captain Vienna thanked everyone for coming to the station’s NNO event. He gave special acknowledgment to the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs and the POPA Federal Credit Union and their help with the event. He also thanked the CV Sheriff Support Group “that’s been instrumental in supporting [us] tonight.” 

He extended his thank yous to those who brought their classic cars to display. Many of the vehicle owners are part of the local organization Early Rodders. There were several classic and new vehicles at NNO. 

The night also hosted a special guest: LASD Sheriff Robert Luna stopped by to talk with CV Station personnel and community members, as well as taking a lot of photos with those in attendance. 

“I want to thank you and your entire team,” Luna said. 

He added he knows it takes a lot of planning for an event like NNO and was happy to see so many community members attend. 

“I hear nothing but great things from this community about the support that you give our deputies here, and I cannot tell you how much that means,”  Luna said. “This National Night Out is about bringing community and law enforcement together because if you think about a safe community, whether you want a good quality of life, a lower crime rate, it is about a partnership. You are our eyes and ears and that support really does matter.”

He also thanked Captain Vienna for his work at the station. 

Vienna echoed Luna’s appreciation for the community. 

Representatives were also on hand from the office of LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, City of La Cañada Flintridge and Crescenta Valley Town Council as was Assemblymember Nick Schultz. 

Nearby Sparr Heights also held a large NNO event sponsored by Sparr Heights Connect and Prepare.

Over 200 people attended the NNO event, including city and federal officials. Everyone enjoyed the treats from Triple Beam Pizza, Brown’s BBQ and Handel’s Ice Cream. Kids and adults had a lot of fun playing corn toss and Wiffle ball. Star Wars friends entertained the crowd. Officer Amy Tate and facility dog Brisket were a crowd favorite and gave lots of photo ops with the community. Mayor Ardy Kassakhian and City Council members Brotman, Gharpetian, Bartrosuf and Asatryan stopped by to enjoy the festivities. Police Chief Robert William, along with Glendale PD officers, Fire Captain Jeff Brooks and Glendale fire fighters, and the members of the Montrose Shopping Park Association also participated in the event. Rep. Laura Friedman was also in attendance.  

Sparr Heights NNO block party was indeed a huge success. Several council members said to organizer Ron Scott that the Sparr Heights NNO block party is “one of their favorite NNO events in Glendale.”   

A huge turnout was also found at Bolton Hall in Tujunga. Sponsored by the Foothill Division, National Night Out was “one of our biggest turnouts,” said LAPD Senior Lead Officer Gloria Caloca. 

“There’s no agenda. Just come and talk to your neighbors, talk to everyone. A lot of times, people can’t make it to meetings,” she said. “Sometimes people get a little nervous speaking one-on-one with officers, but here it’s a really relaxing environment.” 

Caloca said the importance of the event is to gather as a community to talk about issues affecting the Foothills. 

“Just now, I was speaking to two people and they both brought up the same issue. They had emailed me about it. People will email me or talk on the phone, and they know my face because of social media or our website, but these events allow me to meet them and put a name to a face,” she said. 

Some of the main concerns community members approached her about included homelessness services and traffic concerns.

“It’s not just about speaking to us, it’s about bringing the community together,” she said. 

In person guitarists, drummers and powerful vocals echoed down Commerce Avenue, carrying with it the cheerful drone of neighbors chatting with one another and of children laughing and playing. The scent of grilled hot dogs and watermelon tempted community members to join the National Night Out block party. People gathered on the park green to lounge on lawn chairs and picnic blankets, to chat with friends and line dance to music, and wander the resource tables from the Elks Lodge, LAPD Communications Division and the LAPD Cadets program, Cal OES and CORE Community Emergency Response, the office of LA City Council member Monica Rodriguez and the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council. 

LAFD House 74 brought two trucks for community members to explore and LAPD Traffic Officer Salvador Venegas let kids sit on an LAPD motorcycle. 

Bolton Hall Museum remained open throughout the event for attendees to peruse the exhibits and ask questions of museum docents. 

Additional information from Melanie McKINNELL

Photos by  Mary O’KEEFE, Eliza PARTIKA, Ruth SOWBY 
and Sparr Heights Connect and Prepare