MOSES LAKE — The weather is a little cooler than a month ago, but that didn’t stop a good-sized crowd from coming downtown for National Night Out Tuesday.

“(The people who came out) got to see the weather just like we did, and I’m sure they were like, really?” said Moses Lake Police Chief David Sands. “But they came out, so we’re very appreciative.”

National Night Out is held nationwide on or around the first Tuesday of August, but this year the smoke from wildfires across eastern Washington made it less than fun to be outside, so the Moses Lake, Quincy and Ephrata police departments all postponed their events. The turnout was a little thinner than in previous years, Sands said; in addition to the fall weather, school had started, and many families had after-school activities.

The dunk tank is a staple of Moses Lake’s National Night Out, but the weather put the kibosh on that, Sands said.

“Someone brought it up and I said, ‘Absolutely not,’” he said. “That would have been me (in the tank). We’ll do that again next year when it’s hot again."

The MLPD, with the help of members of Restore City Church, grilled hot dogs for the crowd, and JR Simplot brought its French fry van and served up piping-hot fries. There were also police cars, fire trucks and other equipment for the kids to explore, which is always a hit, said Washington State Patrol Trooper Charles Paul.

“They (turn on) the lights and climb in the back seat and stuff,” Paul said.

Paul had a table with various forms of WSP swag for the children: pencils, pens, snap bracelets and badge stickers that proclaimed the wearer a Junior Trooper. The stuff on the table was rapidly diminishing, Paul said.

“This table was full about half an hour ago,” he said. “I’ve got some more pens and pencils in the car, but I doubt it’ll last for another hour and a half.”

Students from the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center Criminal Justice program were also at the event, said their instructor, former MLPD Chief David Ruffin. Some were there to help, and others just to check out what was going on.

“It’s a great service opportunity for them,” Ruffin said. “And they get to hang out with full-time law enforcement. That’s always a good thing.”

Besides the first responders, various businesses and nonprofits had booths set up in the closed-off street to make connections with the community.

“We’ve been here probably the last three or four years,” said Jeanette Garza. “We usually bring the kids to do the booths and check out what community resources are available.”

National Night Out was started in the 1970s as a way to let law enforcement and the people they protect mingle in a friendly environment. That makes a difference, Paul said. 

“A lot of times we only see people on the worst days of their life,” he said. “Some people out here might have called us before, but a lot of people, this is the only interaction they’re going to have with us.”

 “I think anything we do in the community makes a difference,” Sands said. “The police are the community, and the community are the police. So for us to be with folks from the community in a non-enforcement, just-hanging-out way and getting to know one another, that’s what it’s about.”

    From left: Mary Alvarado, Sandra Ochoa, Araceli Madrigales and Sonia Garcia of Restore City Church serve up hot dogs at National Night Out Tuesday.
  

    Luna Larson, 9, shoots a basket at National Night Out in Moses Lake Tuesday.
  

    Washington State Patrol Trooper Charles Paul chats with some kids at National Night Out Tuesday in Moses Lake.