Rain doesn’t stop Kane County community members from attending National Night Out

The 41st annual National Night Out brought dozens of emergency vehicles, community organizations, games and more than 1,000 people to St. Charles on Aug. 6 despite the poor weather conditions.

Law enforcement had its specialized vehicles and equipment on display at the Kane County Sheriff’s Office at 37W755 Route 38.

The annual event, which began nationally in 1984, is part of a national program aimed at fostering community relations. Police agencies in communities across the state and country held similar events Aug. 6.

The event allows local law enforcement to connect with those they serve and protect.

Community members could get up close and personal with state and local agencies including the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, SWAT, corrections officers, the Kane County Forest Preserve District, the coroner and several fire departments. The Department of Transportation was at the event showing off its snow removal vehicles and street sweepers.

The largest vehicle at the event was the Kane County EMS’s Mobile Command Center, a giant RV outfitted with all the technology needed at the scene of an emergency. Smaller modes of transportation such as the Kane County Rangers’ horses and the Forest Preserve District’s snowmobile also were on display.

Kane County Undersheriff Amy Johnson said despite the weather they had a great turnout. She said about 1,200 people came out and had fun.

Johnson said she met several new families who recently moved to the area at the event. She said the biggest hits among the children were the SWAT vehicles, the horses and the K-9 unit.

“It was great to see new faces and families,” Johnson said. “An event like this is important because it brings the community out.”

Johnson said with so much rhetoric being passed around creating distrust for police, the event brings the community back and fosters better connections.

“This is why we do what we do. We put our lives on the line every single day,” Johnson said. “We work for the community and we want to instill that trust and that safety. We are just like everybody else and we are out to protect our communities and work side by side with everybody else.”

The K-9 unit had its puppy Remi, a K-9 in training, which kids were happy to wait in line to pet.

Some of the most notable vehicles were the Sheriff’s Tactical Emergency Medical Support vehicle, which is heavily armored, and the Bomb Squad’s Incident Response Vehicle, which was open for guests to walk through.

Popular equipment at the event included bomb disarming robots and the sheriff’s drones.

Bounce houses and carnival games were popular among the kids and many families enjoyed a scavenger hunt in which they collected stamps by visiting the different agencies at the event.

Cotton candy and snow cones were popular treats and many agencies had games such as Bozo buckets and bean bag tosses set up for kids to play and win prizes.

Aurora residents Camilla Rosa and her daughter Gabi were enjoying cotton candy while they browsed and collected stamps for the scavenger hunt. Rosa said while the weather could have been better, the event was a great way to meet the people who keep her family safe and her daughter was having a great time playing all the games.

Kane County residents Sara and James O’Connell were at the event with their son Jimmy, 9, who was eager to sit in the driver’s seat of as many vehicles as he could. Sara said Jimmy has been saying he wants to be a police man since his seventh birthday.

“He is totally in his element here today,” Sara O’Connell said. “He doesn’t even want to go in the bounce houses. He would rather hang out in the police tanks all day.”

James O’Connell said they attended the event last year and Jimmy loved going up in the helicopter, but this year was all about the armored vehicles.

Families also could engage in educational demonstrations. St. Charles Boy Scouts of America Troop 1 was at the event giving rope making demonstrations and National Karate & Martial Arts of South Elgin was giving lessons on board breaking and ninja star throwing.

The office of the Kane County Coroner was filled with booths from local businesses and organizations giving demonstrations. More than 50 booths were set up at the event.