CONNEAUT – For many people, having to interact with a first responder means their day has taken a turn for the worse.
The Conneaut High School National Honor Society wants the community to get to know the men and women they have to count on when that turn for worse comes.
A Night Out is an opportunity for first responders and community members to get to know one another.
“I’m personally immensely grateful (for our first responders),” Night Out organizer Abby Brecht said. “I’m thankful I rarely need the police or fire departments to come out and help me. We’re lucky to have a great police department and a great fire department. We see them out in the community at different events. We see them at our school events. I’m thankful I see them on a daily basis. When something happens, I’m grateful that they’re there.”
A Night Out will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 5-8 p.m. on Main Street in front of City Hall. The event is free of charge.
The National Honor Society is sponsoring A Night Out for the second time.
“We’re pretty excited to do it again,” Brecht said. “We had a very, very good response from the city and from the first responders. It was well-attended, and we raised a lot of money for a good cause. We wanted to do it again.”
A Night Out is an opportunity for the community to meet local first responders.
“It originally started in 1984 as a police-supported event to bring police officers and members of the community together,” Brecht said. “When it started, it was in 23 states. Now, it’s in all 50. It started with the police and a lot of communities started bringing in the fire department.”
“We’re fortunate enough to also have a dive team,” Brecht continued. “It’s a good opportunity for people to learn about the people they meet on their worst days. It’s also a good opportunity for first responders to meet the people they’re serving.”
The event will include activities, games, food, entertainment and a number of local organizations will have information tables.
“We just want everyone to come out with curiosity and be willing to meet the people of the police and fire departments,” Brecht said. “We just want them to take the time to meet their first responders.”
“We’ll have some local organizations that do a lot of great things in our community,” Brecht said. “Organizations like Ashtabula County Community Action, ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources) and Dr. Dolittle’s House will be there. These are agencies people don’t know about. Maybe some people will see an organization and want to get involved.”
A Night Out raised $500 for Conneaut Dive Team a year ago. The 2026 event will be a fundraiser for Conneaut Pilce Department’s K9 unit.
“We see some of it with Auggie being in the schools (with SRO Tim Rose),” Brecht said. “They’ve had K9s in the past, but I think they might be expanding that. We just want to be there to support it.”
“I remember when I was super young, one of the K9 officers brought a police dog to the Whiteout,” Brecht continued. “The dog’s name was Ghost. I had no idea police officers had dogs. It was very cool and being able to support the K9 officers is really neat.”
The National Honor Society will be raising money for the Conneaut Police Department’s K9 unit through Kona Ice and raffle baskets.
