By CALEB FOX
Staff Reporter
National Night Out serves as an event to unite communities and promote public safety, which was precisely what was carried out on Tuesday. Aug. 6 throughout Oakdale and across the United States. More specifically, however, this was achieved on South First Avenue and East J Street in Oakdale with its debut as a local National Night Out block party location.
Caitlyn Barreda organized this new location to encourage camaraderie and public safety in a neighborhood that has not seen it in this form before.
“This community is pretty much underserved,” Barreda said, describing her motive for organizing and managing this new National Night Out, NNO, location.
Throughout the National Night Out locations in Oakdale, each one has a variety of vendors and pop-ups offering resources to those areas. At the South First and East J site, several different resources provided pop-ups, including SIG Solar, Stanislaus County Library, Center for Human Services, Astoria Senior Living, Mid-Cal Blue Star Moms, and Care2u Dental Services.
“There are a lot of people in this area who don’t have access to many resources,” Barreda said. This lack of resources is why she worked with the Oakdale Police Department – which serves as the coordinating agency for NNO – to set up this new location.
Along with the pop-ups, vendors brought drinks, food, and entertainment to the block party. Seed2Cup Coffee, River Walks n Plays, Infinite Gourmet Catering, axe throwing, and face painting were all on hand at the new location.
“I hope that there will be a sense of community,” Barreda said about offering the new block party. “I want to continue this location as long as the Oakdale Police Department allows me to.”
The main site for National Night Out in Oakdale over the past few years has been Burchell Park, and a number of booths and activities were offered there as well, along with food and games. Other locations around the city with Night Out events were Belmare Senior Living; Olive and School; the Youth Center (on Gilbert) across from Oakdale High School; California and Laurel; Oak Leaf Meadows; East G Street and South Maag Avenue; Carmel Ranch; and Tesoro.
National Night Out creates an opportunity for community residents and emergency services personnel to meet in a fun, relaxed setting, strengthening relationships and opening lines of communication.
