LEWISTON — The city’s annual National Night Out will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, in Kennedy Park.

The event has been successful in heightening crime and drug prevention awareness; generating support for and participation in local anti-crime efforts; strengthening neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and sending forth a message that neighborhoods are organized and united.

Highlights of this year’s event include free food, the National Guard climbing wall, arts-n-crafts, face painting, a moonwalk, music, a magician and various raffles. The Lewiston Police Department will also have a cruiser on site, and the Lewiston Fire Department will have a firetruck at the event. Also being represented are the Boy Scouts, Lewiston/Auburn Public Health Committee and United Ambulance Service.

Interim Chief Michael J. Bussiere of the Lewiston Police Department said, “National Night Out has proven to be an effective and enjoyable program that promotes neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships. As neighbors meet neighbors, our community benefits not only for the one evening, but the program provides an opportunity to develop positive relationships that last all year long.”

“This is a very valuable event,” Bussiere said. “It’s a fact when residents look out for one another crime goes down.”

Within the United States, National Night Out has been in existence since 1984 and has grown to involve over 34 million people from more than 10,000 communities representing all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities, and military bases worldwide.

The national initiative is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development and promotion of organized, law enforcement-affiliated crime and drug prevention programs. Members include neighborhood, crime, community, town, and block-watch groups; law enforcement agencies; state and regional crime prevention associations; and a variety of businesses, civic groups, and concerned individuals working to make their communities safer places in which to live and work.