Conneaut community celebrates A Night Out

CONNEAUT – Building strong relationships between community members and the first responders is exactly what A Night Out was designed to do.
The National Honor Society at Conneaut High School wanted to bring its community and first responders together to build strong bonds between the two through their own A Night Out.
“I just think it’s an opportunity, and it comes down to, yes, this is something fun for people to come out and do, 100 percent, but the whole point is that people can come out and meet their first responders,” A Night Out organizer Abby Brecht said. “The first responders can meet the people that they’re serving.”
A Night Out was hosted on Main Street in front of City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 4, and included the Conneaut police and fire departments as well as a large number of community organizations.
“We have so many wonderful resources in Conneaut and Ashtabula County, but people don’t always know how to get in touch with them or even get involved with them,” Brecht said. “This is an opportunity for that. I like to think, a lot of times, we meet our first responders, whether it be a fire or a speeding ticket, it might not be on the best ground. This is a very fun, cheerful way for everyone to come out and meet the people who are supporting each other.”
A Night Out gives first responders an opportunity to make an impression on the community in a fun environment.
“If your first impression of a police officer is you get to dunk them in the tank, or you get candy because you’re coming out to the event and you see them, I feel that that helps bring a very comforting feeling,” Brecht said. “You’re familiar with the police. It helps grow a good relationship, I think, because the police are there, they’re there to serve a purpose, but they’re also an extremely important part of our community and they’re everyday people, just like you and me. It’s a very good way for it to be a not serious situation and everyone can benefit from it.”
The NHS also believed it to be important that the organizations be in front of the community.
“These people have dedicated, some of them, this is their entire life’s mission,” Brecht said. “This is what they do. Some of these people, this is their job, or they donate all their free time. A lot of these people have very personal backstories.”
“These are nonprofits or city entities or organizations that their purpose is just to purely benefit the people that are coming out here tonight,” Brecht continued. “I think that there’s no better way for that to come across than for everyone to come out and meet me in a community-oriented event. These are all extremely important organizations, and they don’t always get the opportunity to share what services they provide or even help recruit for new volunteers and people to get involved. This just kind of puts out there what options there are.”
The National Honor Society sponsored the event for the second straight year.
“I cannot be happier that not only did it go well last year, but it came back this year and it’s going just as well,” Brecht said.
With 20 community organizations and food trucks, A Night Out was a bigger event than it was in its second year.
“The food trucks are new,” Brecht said. “We have a free petting zoo, which is new. We have the dunk tank, which the Conneaut Music Boosters were kind enough to let us borrow, which is also new this year, and then we have several new organizations and nonprofits this year.”
Brecht enjoyed watching the community, its first responders and its organizations come together.
“I really enjoy seeing people get dunked in the dunk tank, but also some of it is these are people who I recognize from last year,” Brecht said. “These are people who I recognize from other city events. These are people who I’ve recognized through school events. All of these people, when I asked them to come out, I think I only had a couple who maybe were going to a different night out, and that’s why they couldn’t come. Everyone wanted to show up. That’s really what I’ve been enjoying most. Not necessarily all the fun and games, which is nice, but it’s just the fact that I asked the community to come out, and they came, and they set up, and people want to be out here, and they want to be involved.”
Brecht was appreciative of the community’s support for the event.
“We, of course, would like to thank the music boosters, who are letting us borrow the dunk tank,” Brecht said. “The city has been extremely cooperative. (We want to thank) the food trucks that came out this year. Kona Ice is doing a fundraiser with us and all of the funds are going back to the K9 unit this year. Last year, they went to the dive team. We’re just appreciative of the city and organizations that came out to make this possible and, also, the community members who decided to come out and enjoy it.”
Events like A Night Out have become pillars for organizations like the National Honor Society and Youth Philanthropy at Conneaut High School.
“Even now, out of it, to know that Youth Philanthropy and NHS are going to continue and they can continue to these type of events means a lot,” Brecht said. “It just goes to show, you think of Youth Philanthropy, you think of NHS, you think, ‘Okay, they do service projects here or there. They stock blessing boxes.’ Our Youth Philanthropy, our NHS, are truly out there in community. Last year, Youth Philanthropy did more than 20 service projects. NHS ran the Night Out. They ran a dodgeball tournament to benefit our first responders. They’re actively out here taking and seeking leadership roles, and that’s what we want to see, is that these are going to be the future of our community, and they are already taking that role on.”