NATIONAL NIGHT OUT!

National Night Out (NNO) is comprised of events held in communities nationwide to enhance public awareness of crime and drug abuse prevention. This year’s NNO campaign - held this past Tuesday, August, 1 - involved citizens, law enforcement agencies, civic groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations and local officials from more than 10,000 communities from all 50 states.

The great thing about NNO is that while it is a collection of events designed to focus attention on public safety, it is couched within an atmosphere of fun. In Waseca, United States Congressman Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.) and I challenged each other in a donut eating contest.  I won!  I’m not sure what says about my eating habits, but I can say that I have never had more fun ingesting 750,000 calories. And, in Owatonna, my grandson won a softball signed by the police chief. He was ecstatic.

I want to thank the local media for their fantastic coverage of the events, and I especially want to thank everyone who came out to be a part of this extremely important campaign.