2025 marks the second year of National Night Out, an annual community-building campaign held nationwide, which works to bring together neighborhoods and their local emergency services. This year saw over 20 organizations attend the event - held at the Shelby Township Community Park from 4-8 p.m. on Tuesday, August 5 - to meet residents of Oceana County and share what services they provide.
National Night Out, while featuring all aspects of emergency service, was conceived with the primary goal of improving community and police relations. As Oceana County Undersheriff Ryan Schiller explains, the event “enables law enforcement and public safety to form relationships with the community… Community is what it’s all about.” Overall, it’s a “good event with a great motive.”
Along with the fire trucks and police cars, were a variety of public fixtures, from mental health organizations to Shelby’s robotics club, in attendance, all with the shared goal of letting the public know who they were and their benefits to Oceana County. Leslie Best of Oceana/ Mason County’s joint 911 station said of their attendance, “we are here to get people informed about what’s available.”
In many instances, these service providers encounter community members who had no idea such organizations existed. Despite 10 years of operation, Rosa Avilez-Martinez of Shelby Adolescent Health Center is still working to inform folks that they are more than just mental health providers for Shelby Middle School, but that they work with adolescents ages 10-22 all around Oceana County.
Jeremy Shafer of Oceana County Police’s dive team explained, “last year we met people who were unaware Oceana County even had a dive team.” At this year’s event, Shafer has seen an uptick in kids under 10 who are curious about the dive team and filled with questions about the equipment on display. Many were rewarded for their curiosity with free life jackets, left over from this summer’s Water Safety Day.
Another goal of many organizations was to inform the public about a new law in Michigan requiring gun owners to keep their firearms locked up if minors are present on the property. Should a minor be injured due to an easily accessible firearm, the owner will face felony charges. Because of this, Trinity Health and the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office were handing out gun locks and spreading awareness of this new law.
Other organizations, such as the Citizen Emergency Response Team, were out seeking volunteers to assist them in case of natural disasters. Organizer David Noble has been working in emergency response for decades and even traveled to Muskegon County with C.E.R.T. following the disastrous windstorm earlier this year.
Besides spreading awareness and drumming up support, many organizations were just participating in a county-wide show-and-tell with their equipment. The Oceana County Road Commission brought in a highway plow for kids to use as a canvas to paint on, afterwards inviting them to climb into the truck to inspect the mechanics.
Other vehicles, such as Life EMS’s ambulances, were available for kids to explore so they might feel more comfortable should they ever need to ride one in the future.
Oceana and Mason Counties’ joint Special Emergency Response Team brought in an impressive armored vehicle, riot shield, and a specialized robot intended for hostage and live gunman operations. While Jeremy Swihart and Donny Hansen of S.E.R.T. would prefer to never need this equipment, “these are the tools we use to keep people safe.”
Throughout the evening, live demonstrations were presented by Great Lakes Energy and the collective Oceana County fire departments. If anyone wanted to watch a jaws-of-life demonstration outside of a real car accident, Shelby-Benona firefighters were more than happy to oblige with a junk car donated by Oceana Auto.
In between the tents and demonstrations, families could enjoy inflatable slides, a rock climbing wall courtesy of Grace Adventures, free hot dogs, snow cones and refreshments, and the opportunity to dunk Oceana County’s boys (and girls) in blue (and brown) in a dunk tank. 102.7 WMOM radio station provided live music and broadcasting for the event.
Last year’s National Night Out saw around 700 attendees, and so far numbers have nearly doubled. Hopefully attendees left learning more about the people who work day and night to provide public safety. For the Oceana County Sheriff’s Offices, they just want folks to know that “we are more than just writing tickets and bringing people to jail. We are partners to make Oceana a great place to live.”
