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Chester County Press

Regional Police's National Night Out to include West Grove and Toughkenamon

07/31/2018 10:45AM ● By J. Chambless

Andrea Quijano and Ava Walker donned fire jackets and climbed aboard a West Grove Fire Company vehicle at the first Southern Chester County Regional Police Department National Night Out in 2017.

By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

In the hours before the Southern Chester County Regional Police Department hosted its first National Night Out community event in West Grove on Aug. 1, 2017, Deputy Chief Michael King worried if any of the locals would show up for the party.

By the time the event got rolling a few hours later, more than 800 eventually did.

For close to three hours, the center of West Grove was a crowded house of celebration, as members of the regional police unit and firefighters greeted their communities, and in every direction, children and their families climbed aboard fire trucks and police vehicles, nibbled from food trucks and took spins on police bicycles.

As the department began to plan its 2018 National Night Out celebration, scheduled for Aug. 7 from 6 to 8 p.m., it decided that a return to West Grove would not be enough. In cooperation with local businesses, the department will be holding a simultaneous National Night Out event near the Toughkenamon Town Center, in the parking lot behind the Harvest Ridge Winery Tasting Room.

“We asked ourselves, 'How can we build on last year, and represent more communities?'” said Deputy Chief Michael King. “We serve the West Grove community, but we also represent the Village of Toughkenamon, too, so we thought, 'What a perfect way to get people within walking distance of the event to enjoy what everyone in West Grove will get to experience again.' We set the bar last year for ourselves in our first try at it, and so we created a great template from which to work for this new event.

The West Grove National Night Out celebration will include tours of police vehicles and fire trucks from the West Grove Fire Department, police bicycle demonstrations, a moon bounce, food trucks, display tables from area businesses and a performance by the band Revolution Heroes. Assistance will be provided by members of the West Grove Garage Community & Youth Center.

In Toughkenamon, the event will feature a SWAT vehicle display, tours of Avondale Fire Company vehicles, as well as food trucks, children's activities and a concert by the band Shot in the Dark. Assistance will be provided by the Kennett Square Garage Community & Youth Center; Young Moms, Inc.; La Communidad Hispana and Women, Infants and Children.

In addition, the Harvest Ridge Winery will be releasing its Red Line Red wine at both locations, and Chester County District Attorney Thomas Hogan will speak at both events.

“Every police department in every community puts their own spin on this event,” King added. “We're trying to make these events more intimate, to allow us to engage with the public and feature local businesses, so that everyone can enjoy fellowship with each other, in a summer time block party atmosphere.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].