National Night Out draws hundreds to McCosh Park

MOSES LAKE — Washington State Patrol officer Justin Cloud peeked to his left in anticipation as the kids lined up in front of the dunk tank Tuesday evening at McCosh Park.

A little guy at the front of the line inched forward, sighted in the softball that looked more like a pumpkin in his little hand, and let fly a shot that bounced off the trigger, sending Cloud into the water. The audience of young ones queuing up let out a excited roar of support.

To tell you the truth, as hot as it was on Tuesday night, Cloud wasn’t all that disappointed to be going for a dip.

The activity was part of the 11th annual National Night Out in Moses Lake and hundreds flocked to the park to enjoy the community gathering of friends and family. The first National Night Out was back in 1984 and involved 2.5 million residents across 400 communities in 23 states. National Night Out has grown to include more than 38 million people in 20,000 communities across the country as of 2016.

Here in the Columbia Basin, the sweet sounds of the band Cover Story drifted from the band shell. Their version of The Band’s “The Weight” drew a hearty applause as they entertained the people kicking back on the grass, enjoying the cool night air.

Vivianna Bisnett held back as her sister Aleana climbed into the chair at the face paint booth that had a line winding all the way back to the stairs to the bandstand. The wait was finally over and it was finally their turn, but now that it was it seemed better to let big sister go first. As the artist worked her magic, transforming a little face into a glittering work of art, a smile came to Vivianna’s face. She climbed up into the chair, squinted her eyes until it was over. Aleana held the mirror and it was smiles all the way around.

Since National Night out is a community-police awareness-raising event, local and state law enforcement was out in force with all the gizmos and equipment they use in law enforcement. Moses Lake detective Aaron Hintz played a little escape and evade with a young boy decked out in a flack jacket that looked like he might fall over at any time.

We can only hope this is the first time 3-year-old Skylar Riassetto needs to be fingerprinted. He sat intently watching as his finger marks were carefully placed on the board, but he seemed more intent on getting the ink off his hands as quickly as possible.

Four-year-old Jack Wiley climbed up into the driver’s seat of the armored vehicle the Grant County Sheriff’s Department had on display. It’s not every day a guy gets to pretend to drive a real tank. Maybe it’s not a tank, but it sure seemed like one to his vivid imagination.

It was a good night. It was a safe place. It was in fact, a nice night out here in the Columbia Basin.