Full Notification

Since 1997 the police department has hosted a National Night Out (NNO) event on the first Tuesday of August each year. From our first NNO which attracted approximately 40 residents at the Rexmont Fire Station, our event has grown to be the largest in Lebanon County, attracting as many as 3400 residents along Alden Street and on the grounds of the Cornwall United Methodist Church
As you can imagine, planning for and producing such a large event is a tremendous undertaking that requires months of work and countless hours.

Several years ago we considered no longer hosting a NNO as other municipalities have done, but without a doubt it is our largest and most popular community policing event of the year, thus the reason we continued it.

Here is just some of the planning and work that goes into the event:

APRIL
• Send invitation letters either by mail or electronically to the 75+ community groups and organizations that annually participate. If they don’t reply then follow-up must be done to determine their intentions.

JUNE
• Send letters to all the businesses and individuals who provide financial support for the event, including the restaurants that provide food.
• Order the kids prizes and give-a-way items.
• Contact the “bounce house” company and determine what inflatables will be available for the event.
• Design the NNO flyer that must go to the printer by July 3rd.


JULY
• Produce a map showing the location of all the participants and food service stands.
• After flyers are printed, attach wristbands in each flyer, then sort by mailing zone prior to delivering to the various post office locations.
• Compile and send informational packets to all the participants notifying them of their location, parking availability, set-up guidelines, etc.
• Coordinate and confirm the availability of Fire Police from various agencies that will assist with parking, traffic, and crowd control.
• Order all the drinks, ice, barrels of root beer and ice cream that will be used at the event.
• Coordinate with local churches and fire companies for the number of tables and chairs needed.
• Set-up and staff wrist-band distribution times at the municipal building to distribute additional wristbands for families.

AUGUST
• Meet with representatives of the bounce house vendor to determine the location of the inflatable’s, electrical needs, etc.
• Move all equipment and supplies to the event location.
• Pick-up tables, chairs, fencing, grills, coolers.
• Set up the pop-up canopies and string lights.
• Send thank you letters to all the donors and groups that participated.


If our NNO is to continue, we need a group of volunteers, a National Night Out Committee, willing to plan and coordinate the event. Our limited staff just cannot continue to devote the amount of hours necessary to produce such an event.

The police department will provide guidance and support, office space to work, materials, letterheads, copy services, postage, etc, but we need people to help. In addition to the duties listed above we need volunteers to assist with set up the day before and day of the event, including when the event is over at 9:00 PM to tear down and perform clean-up duties which typically takes two hours. Additionally, we need helpers on the day after NNO (especially during the morning) as we must return tables, chairs, coolers, and other borrowed/rented equipment, and transport supplies back to the police station or Borough storage building.

If you would be willing to serve on a National Night Out Committee, send an email to our NNO Coordinator Stephanie Burris at [email protected]

We need to make a decision by April 1st if we will continue to host a National Night Out event.