Food, fun, music headline National Night Out

MIDDLESEX — A hearty crowd spilled into the Southern Bank parking lot on Saturday to participate in National Night Out, a gathering designed to strengthen the police-community partnership.

The celebration, which ran from 5-8 p.m., featured local food vendors, civic partners and live music.

“It’s an opportunity for people to speak to us and see us outside of a formal function of law enforcement, not on a call,” Middlesex Police Chief Joe Amos said. “And actually talk to us as people and get a chance to ask us whatever questions they want outside of law enforcement … kind of get to know the officers more as individuals.”

FUN FOR ALL

Walnut and Exum streets formed the event’s border, encompassing everything from bounce houses to slides to vendor tents — most notably Restoration Recovery, based in Bailey, hemp outfit Green Compass and civic partner One Community NC.

Providing a walkabout soundtrack was the Ginger Thompson Band, long a staple of the Virginia-Carolinas beach music Top 40 scene.

Hotter than normal temperatures were eased with treats from Howell Farms Ice Cream and Sunset Slush, while many a hungry patron flocked to the service window of Backdraft BBQ, which served brisket, pork chops, wings and its famous Mac Sundae.

A TRIED-AND-TRUE PARTNERSHIP

While discussing the many moving parts associated with staging a community event, Amos hailed Southern Bank’s longtime participation as host of the bash.

“This is kind of the central, best location we have to accommodate all the … different vendors, the food, the bouncy castles, that’s still centrally located in town,” Amos remarked of the setting. “Where people can either walk to it, drive to it, you know, or ride their golf carts … they have been great since we first started this about six years ago. They’ve always accommodated us.”

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