Kids of all ages turned out in throngs Friday to hang out with local law enforcement and emergency response personnel for the 14th annual Kids’ Night Out event at Hanceville’s C.W. Day Park.

The event, mirrored by similar Night Out events nationwide each August, is aimed at strengthening relationships between young people and public safety officers in their communities. 

Kids get to climb inside the cockpits of rescue helicopters, hop aboard fire engines and blare police sirens — and they get to know the staff of the local agencies that offer emergency response services.

In addition, there’re everything you’d expect at a public party: face painting, train rides, bounce houses, swimming and archery. With free sandwiches, drinks and ice cream, the turnout is consistently huge.

“Oh, it’s great every year,” said Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail. “This is the kind of community we want to have, where parents can bring their kids out and just enjoy friendship with everyone. It puts them in touch with our law enforcement and emergency personnel, and it helps them realize that these people are their friends.”

“This is our first time to come, but we’d heard about it from other people,” said Brittney Asher, waiting for her daughter’s train ride to finish. “We didn’t realize there would be this many people here. But it’s pretty great, with all the stuff they have at the park. We’ll bring our swimsuits next year.”

Kids’ Night Out is the creation of the National Association of Town Watch, a nonprofit whose mission is to draw communities closer to the law enforcement and emergency response agencies who serve them.

To add a back-to-school flavor to its event, Hanceville volunteers, organizations and teachers prepare school supply bags for Hanceville students each year. Organizers use the each year’s Night Out event to remind students that they’ll have a goody bag of fresh supplies waiting at their desks on the first day of school.