The 39th Annual nationwide and the 19th Crookston Annual Night to Unite celebration of communities and law enforcement will be held at the University of Minnesota Crookston Campus Mall on August 2 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
This year’s National Night Out (NNO), Night to Unite, is in its 39th year nationally and 19th in Crookston. Nationwide over 40 million people in over 15,000 communities attend the event every year. The event is a chance for the citizens to meet and interact with their local law enforcement and help understand each other better to help work together to keep their communities safe. “It’s where the police and the citizens of the community come together and gel. They get a chance to meet their police face-to-face and see that they’re just regular people like they are,” said Crookston Police Officer Don Rasicot. “When that happens, there are some amazing results, and the bottom line is, it takes a bite out of crime, I know it’s a cliché, but it’s a true story. People get to feel comfortable with their police department, and they always seem to work well with the department after they feel being around them.” Rasicot also noted that for a long time, the Night was held in Central Park, but for the past two years, the University of Minnesota has donated their Campus Mall and other facilities to host the event with the Walmart of Crookston, once again being the event’s main sponsor. “The nice thing about it is that it’s all in one area where the citizens can see the different vendors that come and meet their policemen. We even have games where they compete against the policemen, and of course, we have great demos where they get to see the police and the fire and ambulance workers in action,” said Rasicot. “We’ve got thousands of dollars donated in prizes that were covered by Wal-Mart.” Rasicot and the many other vendors at the event want to thank UMC and Walmart General Manager Dave Olson for financing the event. He explained that in the past, the event mainly was sponsored by the many local business owners with donations, but the Night to Unite planning committee couldn’t burden them with asking them for donations to fund the event during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and did not wish to slight them financially while many of them are still recovering.
Rasicot, along with Connie Wilkins, Cathy LaJesse, Fire Chief Tim Froeber, Police Chief Darrin Selzler, Dawn Brouse, James Brandon, Michelle Christopherson, Nell Deboer, Shane Heldstab, and Carrie Bergquist, comprise the Night to Unite planning committee, who have worked for about three months to plan this event. Rasicot says there will be action, events like yard games and soccer, and food vendors on the University of Minnesota Crookston Campus Mall. “We want our community to interact personally with our police officers, and we found the best way to do that is through games and demonstrations,” Rasicot explained. “We have a K-9 bite demonstration, the Grand Forks Bomb Squad, where they bring in their robot and do demonstrations. We’ve got the Tae Kwon Do teams that come and do their demonstrations and the Fire Department, who usually do two demos. So, we want our citizens to see exactly what first responders do.” The event kicks off with the 9th Walt Keller Annual Memorial Bingo Party at 2:30 in the Sargeant Student Center. Action begins at 4:30, with all funds going to the Walt Keller Educational Grant.
The Night’s schedule of events can be found below:
2:30-4:00 9th Annual Walt Keller Memorial Bingo
4:30-4:50 National Anthem sung by Kitty Barstad, a welcome and introductions of Crookston Police
Chief Darrin Selzler and Fire Chief Tim Froeber. This year’s event recognizes the 2022 local High water heroes.
5:00-5:05 First prize give-a-way (every 15 minutes after that-via announcement)
5:10-5:30 CFD Kitchen Flashover demo
5:30-6:00 Watermelon Eating Contest & Prize giveaway
6:00-6:25 CFD Hazmat/Decontamination demo
6:00-6:15 Classic Cruisers make their round on the Campus Mall
6:25-6:35 PCSO K-9 bite demonstration
6:35-6:45 Golf Ball Drop – (staff tallies up the winners)
6:45-7:30 Golf Ball Drop prize winners announced and awarded their prizes
7:30 End of event
Rasicot promises everyone three solid hours of fun, excitement, good food, and games and asks families to bring their kids for a fun night out. Public transportation to the event will be provided by T.H.E. Bus. Other than the food provided by the food trucks, all events are free to the guests. For more information about Night to Unite, to request a booth for your organization, or for more information on food vendors, contact Don Rasicot, at 218-281-3111 or drasicot@crookston.mn.us. You can also follow Night to Unite on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Crookston-Night-to-Unite.
