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HANOVER TWP. — Want to get to know your friendly police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians?

Head out to the grounds of the Breslau Hose Company beginning 6 p.m. Tuesday for first responders events part of the National Night Out initiative.

Darlene Davis, president of the Hanover Township Crime Watch Coalition, expects this year’s event will be the biggest in the five years the organization has been hosting night out events.

“We used to have our National Night Out at the township municipal building and we outgrew that. It’s been growing since and we had to move to a bigger location to accommodate everyone.”

Children will have the opportunity to sit inside a police cruiser, a fire truck and ambulance, Davis said, giving parents picture opportunities.

“We’ll have many civic organizations, the Hanover Township Lions Club, Wyoming Valley Drug and Alcohol and Luzerne County 911 telling those their responsibilities and what they do in the community,” Davis said.

Davis said children will have the chance to turn on a firefighter’s hose, run an obstacle course and have their fingers fingerprinted.

Firefighters will teach children on what to do in case of a fire, police will define their role in the community, and EMT’s will showcase the interior of an ambulance, Davis said.

And, kids can ask to hear the sirens on emergency vehicles.

“We’ve been seeing more and more people come out to National Night Out,” Davis said. “We’ll have food to let everybody get a bite to eat thanks to donations from Pizza Bella, Wegmans and other local businesses, they help out and support us with whatever we need.”

Davis said the goal of National Night Out is to bring together the community and first responders.

There will also be a DJ playing music with police officers, firefighters and EMTs playing musical chairs with children.

“That’s always a fun event, the children really enjoy musical chairs and they seem to win all the time,” Davis said.

Other National Night Out events scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 6:

• Forty Fort, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Forty Fort Pool.

• Mountain Top, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., behind the Wright Township Municipal Building.

• Newport Township Community Picnic, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at St. Faustina Grove, Sheatown.

• Dupont and Duryea’s National Night Out will be held Saturday, Aug. 10, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Healey Memorial Playground.

National Night Out events are free to the public.

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By Ed Lewis

elewis@www.timesleader.com