Kaylen Jackson was eager to get out of the house and visit Summit Lake Community Center — despite Tuesday’s late-afternoon storms.
As Kaylen, 11, enjoyed a slice of pizza on a cozy orange couch, kids circled the room with collections of shiny, gold junior firefighter stickers and swag bags from the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office. Other kids splashed in rain water outside on the playground.
The moment was about more than pepperoni and puddles. Kaylen’s mother said she brings her two daughters to National Night Out every year to build rapport with local police officers and firefighters.
“I want them to know that, more times than not, they are good [people],” Kansas Jackson said of her daughters interacting with first responders.
“And I don’t want them to be afraid if they need to ask for help.”
Despite stormy weather and power outages, nine of Akron’s 10 scheduled National Night Out events took place, aiming to build and strengthen relationships between law enforcement officers and the neighborhoods they are charged with protecting.
National Night Out events have taken place in Akron for more than two decades. Below are snapshots from several of the 2024 events across the city, including North Hill, Ellet, West Hill and Summit Lake.
Ward 6: ‘Let them know they can vote’
In Ellet, there was a slow trickle of about two dozen community members at the National Night Out event.
The two-hour community-building event in Ward 6 was moved inside the Ellet Community Center after a downpour kept the Akron police and fire departments from exhibiting their equipment outside. There was free pizza and refreshments, a face-painting station, and about nine tables run by local first responder agencies and community services.
Janice Vaughn, an Ellet resident who brought her grandchildren, was pleased with efforts to introduce the community to law enforcement. Her grandson, Mitchell, spent some time getting his face painted like a lion before chatting with police officers and enjoying a slice of pizza.
More often than not, volunteers and police officers outnumbered attendees. But the rain and middling attendance didn’t discourage ladies representing Akron’s League of Women Voters in their voter registration efforts.
“We come here because we want to make sure we can reach every citizen and let them know they can vote,” said Mary Robbins, the president-elect of the organization.
Joe Natko, the assistant to the mayor for emergency management, and his wife, Melissa, made their rounds, rubbing shoulders with Joe Natko’s former colleagues at the Akron Fire Department.
“When somebody has an emergency, they dial 911 and just want help,” Natko said. “… They just want a good person there to help them. … [The event] is really to get the community introduced with the police and fire department.”
Ward 2: ‘It’s a blessing to be a blessing’
Tuesday afternoon’s storm blew away any chance of a festive atmosphere at this year’s event in North Hill, but families sheltered under the pavilion at the Patterson Ballfields and enjoyed food while collecting school supplies and mingling with safety forces and local politicians.
Gary and Patricia Wyatt of the North Hill Community House teamed up with the Remedy Church and its pastor, Deante Lavender, to secure backpacks filled with school supplies.
“It’s a blessing to be a blessing to the community,” Lavender said. “God gives you an abundance, and the goal is to be able to give it out to those who lack.”
Parents and kids from the heavily immigrant neighborhood lined up in the pavilion and approached the back of a van owned by the community house. The vehicle was filled with backpacks distributed by local officials and volunteers, including Fire Chief Leon Henderson.
Vicki Miller, donning a yellow t-shirt from the community house, kept the line in order and the process moving as a couple of hundred backpacks were distributed. Backpacks for elementary school students were filled with pencils, glue sticks, scissors, crayons and markers; older kids received spiral notebooks, colored pencils, pens and pencils in their backpacks.
With the heavy rain, the event was less festive than in previous years, so the school supply giveaway became the priority.
“The weather impacted this significantly because by now we would have been dancing with a whole crowd of people,” Patricia Wyatt said. “The vendors would be here, and all of a sudden the wind came through and as you can see there are tents all over, the tents are torn up, things got messed up, but that’s OK.”
Miller said she appreciated Mayor Shammas Malik for helping grab tents and bags blown away during the storm.
“He was soaked,” she said. “I want to give him a shout out for that.”
Malik planned to attend five additional ward events on Tuesday, but the storm threw him off schedule.
“I’m glad that we can still make it work, but it’s certainly terrible weather,” said Malik, whose white dress shirt was soaked through from the pouring rain that pummeled the muddy baseball fields. “This is not the world’s most perfect location for rain, but they’re doing OK with what they got.”
Ward 2 Council Member Phil Lombardo boasted that the National Night Out in his ward is always the best in the city.
“It’s just a wonderful event for the community,” Lombardo said. “Ward 2 is such a diverse ward, and it’s great that everybody can come and meet each other, share a meal with one another, see our safety forces that are here.”
The community house had leftover backpacks as the event wrapped up. Patricia Wyatt said parents who weren’t able to attend can call 330-375-5065 and pick up a backpack at the community food bank.
Ward 1: ‘Grateful for everybody’s participation’
The event was moved inside the Church of Our Saviour in the West Hill neighborhood due to weather concerns.
More than a dozen children interacted with firefighters and played at the children’s arts and crafts table.
Nearby, Joseph Schumacher, an Akron firefighter, offered free smoke detectors. A volunteer with the League of Women Voters registered community members to vote. Members of the Akron Police’s SWAT Team spoke with residents.
And Debra Bennett, the rector of Church of Our Saviour, said she is “grateful for everybody’s participation.” Bennett thanked Ward 1 Council Member Samuel DeShazior and community partners for coming together for the event.
Ward 10: Rescheduled for Wednesday evening
The Ward 10 event was postponed due to weather. It will now take place Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. along Goodyear Boulevard, in front of the Linda Theatre.
