Luann Parker grinned as she watched her two young granddaughters frolic in the fountain at Auburn’s Festival Plaza on Tuesday night.

Parker was one of hundreds of city dwellers who turned out for the local observance of National Night Out.

Unlike most others there, Parker lives in Lewiston. She said she feels safe enough in her Webster Street neighborhood home, but prefers Auburn’s footpaths along the Androscoggin River, and her 2- and 3-year-old granddaughters like to feed the ducks.

Meanwhile, across the river, Lewiston was hosting its own version of the national celebration at Marcotte Park.

The events were billed as:

• heightening crime and drug prevention awareness;

• generating support for, and participation in, local anti-crime programs;

• strengthening neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and

• sending a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

Volunteers handed out identification kits for children in both cities; more than 100 in Auburn and twice that many in Lewiston.

The kits include collection of DNA, fingerprints, photos, dental records and identifying marks. Parents can turn the kits over to law enforcement authorities if their kids go missing.

In Lewiston, Androscoggin Home Health offered literature that informed kids about the dangers of smoking and alcohol abuse.

In Auburn, acting police Chief Phillip Crowell Jr. urged people to organize neighborhood crime watch groups. More than a dozen people expressed interest in starting one, said police officer Laurie Woodhead. She also signed up two dozen people interested in volunteering for the police department.

The biggest draw of the evening was the hot dog table.

In Lewiston, volunteers handed out 330 hot dogs, down from the average 500, said organizer Joline Bonaitis, superintendent of the recreation department. The hot, muggy weather likely kept some people inside near their air conditioners.

This is the fourth year Auburn participated in the national event. No one in Lewiston could say for sure when it started there.

Rocky Federico, vice president of the Police Athletic League, said he remembers Police Chief William Welch cooking hot dogs on a small grill on the basketball court in Kennedy Park when he was a sergeant and head of community policing.

Although the focus was on safety, kids enjoyed bouncing in inflated tents on both sides of the river. In Lewiston, pony rides, face-painting and necklace beading were big hits.

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